The Only One In My Heart
by Iarrod
Summary: COMPLETED This story centers around Kadaj, one of the Silver Haired Men from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In this story, we will see a part of him which he had concealed from many others. The incident to the one girl who captured his heart.
1. Meetings

Okay, I didn't play FF7 so don't kill me if I get anything wrong. Please!!!!! The ages here are NOT accurate. It's just an assumption. Kadaj, Yazu and Loz weren't silver haired and green-eyed, ok?Something or someone changed them to the SHM. Who, you might ask…well, you have to wait till I updated my story. Hope you enjoy this! Review please!

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 1**

"Who are you? What are you doing?" a blonde boy of seven asked the girl who invaded his little territory by the beach. The girl jumped up from the sand and turned to the boy.

"I'm sorry!" she stammered, and lowered her head. Kadaj stared at the stranger and read the fear on her face. "I didn't mean to – I accidentally – " she stuttered.

"What did you do to my sandcastle?!" Kadaj exclaimed and shoved the little girl away. Horror was in his face when he saw the tower of his sandcastle which he had built for the whole afternoon was now in a heap of sand.

"I – I" the girl began, "I'm so sorry! I'll help you build it again!" she exclaimed. Kadaj was silent. The girl began to tremble.

"Kadaj! Don't give our new neighbour the silent treatment!" a female voice shouted from a nearby hut. "She's trembling already!" Kadaj's mother continued.

"It's okay," Kadaj finally said to the girl, "We can build another one!" he continued cheerfully. The girl was relieved and smiled at Kadaj. Kadaj suddenly felt his little heart skipped a beat when he saw the girl smile sincerely at him. He could only smile back and forget his heart skipping incident.

"Lana!" a voice called, "Dinner's ready!" Lana looked at the sturdy hut and waved

at the woman. Then, Lana turned to Kadaj.

"I'm Lana," she said, "Nice to meet you!"

"Kadaj," Kadaj replied, "I think you should go home. Your mama's calling."

"Okay," Lana said, "I'll see you tomorrow then!" And Lana ran to her hut.

Kadaj watched Lana went into her hut. He sighed to himself.

"First encounter with a girl, eh, Kadaj?" the seventeen year old Loz smirked behind him.

"Hey!" Kadaj cried as his big brother carried him up to their hut.

"Mama! Look at what Loz did to my new shirt!" Kadaj screamed when he saw a

large finger print on his white shirt. "You ruined my new shirt!" Kadaj said as he hit his brother with his small fist.

"Hang in there, little brother! I'm coming!" Yazu said from inside his room. Within a second, the dirty blonde haired boy of twelve was out and he too pretended to fight with Loz.

"Hey, hey, hey! Mom! Look at them!" Loz cried out. "They disrespect me!"

"Alright, you guys! Stop it all at once!" their mother commanded. The three brothers stopped fighting and stood in a row, facing their mother. "I want you three to behave! Your father is coming home soon. I'm sure you don't want him to see you guys fighting," she said.

"Yes mom," they replied together. They lazed around in the living room awaiting their father. Kadaj walked to the window and saw Lana in the hut next to his. He saw her laughing as she ate with her father and mother.

'I could only wish that papa is as friendly as that,' Kadaj looked at Lana's father. A figure of fatherhood, he could joke around Lana and play with her as though they are friends. 'But papa is always strict to us. He would punish us whenever we fight. Why is he like that?' Kadaj asked himself.

"Will you do me a favour, Kadaj?" Kadaj's mother interrupted him. Kadaj looked up to his mother and nodded with a smile. "Take this cake over to our new neighbour. And be polite," she said as she gave Kadaj a square box.

"I wanna come!" Yazu said.

"I wanna follow too!" Loz said as he trailed behind Yazu.

Kadaj took the box carefully with both his hands and walked to Lana's hut. It was Lana's mother who answered the door and she was more than pleased to find the new neihbourhood so friendly.

"Please, do come in, little ones!"Lina said. "Lana! Your friends are here!" her voice echoed through the hut. Jealousy struck the three brothers when they saw Lana laughing and held by her father.

"Papa!" Lana laughed, "Let me down! Lemme down!" she struggled in her father's arms. Her father laughed and set her on the floor. "Kadaj!" Lana exclaimed but she fell silent when she saw two taller figures behind him.

"My mama made this cake for your family," he said as he handed her the box.

"Oh! Thank you!" Lana's mother exclaimed and went straight to Kadaj's hut to express her gratitude to Kadaj's mother. Lana stood silent and her father had left the hut tagging behind her mother.

"This is my eldest brother, Loz, and my second elder brother, Yazu," Kadaj said to Lana. Lana smiled at them and they saw the happiness of meeting new friends shone in her brown eyes.

"Alright, you guys," Kadaj's mother was at the door, "Father's home. Let's take our dinner."

"See you tomorrow," Kadaj said to Lana, "You have to build a sandcastle with me, okay?" Lana nodded to Kadaj.

On the next day, Yazu and Loz were surprised to see the two seven year olds buildt aminiature city of Midgar in the evening.

"Whoa!" was all Loz said as he found no other words to praise the kids.

"That's funny," Kain, Kadaj's mother, said. "Kadaj never played with other kids in the village. He never build a sandcastle with his brothers before too. And now, he's having fun with your daughter," she continued.

"Lana was always alone," Lina said to her, "She is very happy to meet your sons. She had never laughed so much since she was five."

Loz carriedKadaj up and ran into the shallow part of the sea. Yazu too carriedLana and followed Loz into the sea. Both Lana and Kadaj were screaming for help when the two big brothers threatened to throw them into the sea.

"That's far enough, Loz, Yazu!" Kain shouted at them, "Don't frighten them or you two will be punished!"

"OKAY!" they yelled back. Loz carried Kadaj back to the shore while Yazu gave Lana a piggyback ride which Lana very much appreciated after minutes of yelling at the top of her lungs.


	2. Premonition

Dear Sugar and Hollowed Shame : Thanks for the reviews!! It kept me writing though I think my story will be far shorter than yours Hollowed Shame. Anyway, I will do my best!! Keep the reviews coming!! 

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 2**

"Lana!" Kadaj called outside Lana's window.

"Kadaj," Lina said over the window, "Lana went out to the beach early this morning. She must be waiting for you by the beach. Look after her for me, alright?"

Kadaj nodded at Lana's mother and trotted to the beach but there was no sign of Lana at the beach. 'Where is she? I thought we promised to meet Yazu and Loz together by the beach today,' Kadaj said to himself. Kadaj brushed back his short blonde hair and looked around the beach again. He walked to their favourite spot on the beach and sat down. It wasn't long when Kadaj heard a familiar scream.

"Lana!" Kadaj stood up and ran about the beach. He was getting frantic as Lana did not answer his call nor did he see any footsteps of hers on the golden sand. All Kadaj could hear was Lana's scream that echoed in his ears. Kadaj ran on along the beach and he turned into a bay where Lana sat clutching at her legs with her long brown hair danced around her.

"Lana!" Kadaj knelt beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked. Lana gasped and stared at the sea. Kadaj followed her gaze but he only saw the blue waves rolling onto the sand and heard the song of the sea.

"What is it?" Kadaj asked Lana but she did not reply him. She sat as still as a statue. "Lana," Kadaj said softly and reached for her bare arm. At the touch, Lana awakened from her trance and looked at Kadaj. Kadaj looked into Lana's eyes and saw the fear in it.

"What is troubling you?" he asked.

"I saw our village burning," she said, trembling.

"It was just a dream, Lana," Kadaj said to her, "You were day dreaming."

"But I could feel the heat of the burning village!" Lana protested.

"It's okay, Lana," Kadaj said calmly, taking her into his arms. Lana rested her head on his shoulder and took in a deep breath.

"I hate that scene," Lana whispered.

"Trust me," Kadaj whispered, "It's just a day dream." Lana nodded and sighed.

"Where is that two twelve year olds?" Loz grumbled and walked back and forth in front of Yazoo. Loz paced and messed his short hair which was shorter than Kadaj's.

"Will you stop pacing? You are giving me a headache!" the seventeen year old Yazoo complained. "For God's sake, Loz, sit down and wait! They'll be here in a minute," Yazoo said to his elder brother as he brushed his shoulder length hair away from his face.

"Hey, Lana," Kadaj said after a moment of silent walk to the place where Loz and Yazoo were waiting for them.

"Hm," Lana replied and looked at Kadaj's peculiar expression.

"I was just wondering," Kadaj began, "I was just wandering…"

"What did you wonder about, Kadaj?" Lana asked him.

"Well," Kadaj stuttered. "How to say this?" he mumbled to himself.

"What is it?" Lana inquired.

"I was just wondering about why you have not changed like the rest of the girls in the village," Kadaj finished the sentence in a breath.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Some older girls, they began to change, you know," Kadaj said slowly, "For one thing, now they followed Yazoo everywhere he goes. There's also one girl who is following me around lately," and he quickly added. "But she's not here today."

There was a silence between them then. Lana walked with her head hung on her chest and Kadaj looking straight ahead.

"Do you…really want me to change like them?" Lana asked softly. Kadaj froze in his steps and looked at the brown haired girl beside him.

"No!" Kadaj exclaimed after Lana's question was fully analyzed by his brain. "I didn't mean that! I just wanted to know…" he trailed off.

"It's okay," Lana said and then smiled at him, "I have already decided to be myself a long time ago."

"I'm glad," Kadaj said to her, his heart was racing and a smile was upon his face. Kadaj was worried that Lana would one day be like the girls in the village, following him all around and wore clothes that exposed her body. He only wanted Lana to stay as the Lana he knew five years ago and never to change.

"There you are!" Loz's voice was heard. Both Kadaj and Lana looked at the muscular man. "We've waiting forever for you two tortoises!" he continued.

"Shut up!" Yazoo yelled behind him, "I'm trying to sleep here!"

Kadaj and Lana laughed and they ran to the two elder brothers, who were resting under the shade of the trees by the beach. Loz and Yazoo already have the small outing planned out and it was a success except for the absence of Kadaj and Lana in the morning. The tents were up and strong, the food and drinks were kept in a shady and dry place, and everything was going according to their plan.

"This is nice," Loz said finally, "To be out here, to be with my brothers and a sister, to enjoy the stars and listen to the sea. Everything's perfect!"

"Yeah, it's been a long time since we had this kind of outing," Yazoo agreed. "What do you think Kadaj?" he looked at his brother beside him, who curled up in a ball and fast asleep with Lana sleeping by his side.

"I don't think he'll answer you. Both of them have been very playful this afternoon. They must be very tired," Loz said softly. "It's not that cold tonight," he commented, "We might as well spend a night in the open air. I have always wanted to do this!" Loz stretched out beside Yazoo and began to snore.

"Yeah," Yazoo said to himself. He laid himself between Kadaj and Loz and slowly drifted to sleep. His sleep was one of dreamless and peaceful until a scream woke him up in the middle of the night. His opened eyes were on Lana and Kadaj, who stood beside her. He followed their gaze and saw their village glowing in a red hue. He got up.

"Yeah, fire," Loz mumbled to himself and settled to sleep again. Suddenly, his eyes sprang open and he was on his feet in a second. Lana was crying.

"Stay here!" Yazoo told Kadaj and Lana. "Come on! We got to help them!" Yazoo shouted as he pulled Loz with him to the village.

As they approach the village, Lana mother ran to them.

"Run! Get away from here!" Lina said. "They will kill you!"

"Aunt Lina! What's going on?" Loz demanded.

"There's no time! The raiders…they will kill everyone!" she shouted, "Get away! Hide in the forest! Protect my Lana!" Lina pushed them back to the campsite while she herself ran back to the village, trying her best to defend the small fishing village.

"What's happening?" Kadaj asked when Yazoo and Loz returned.

"Come!" Loz said and took both Kadaj and Lana with his arms into the forest behind their campsite. Yazoo quickly packed all their belongings and headed into the forest, where Loz, Kadaj and Lana were waiting for him.

"What's happening?" Kadaj asked again. Lana sat still, looking at both Loz and Yazoo worriedly.

"Raiders," Yazoo said. "Ferocious raiders," he repeated.

"Who are they?" Lana asked.

"Ten years ago, a troupe of raiders raided our village," Loz began. "They took all our belongings and then burnt our village to the ground. Last time, we survived because they raided us in the morning when everyone's awake but now, everyone's asleep and the fire is around them. They might not survive this raid," his voice slowly faded and he began to mumble to himself.

"I wanna go back!" Lana said, "I wanna get my mama and papa!" she stood and began to run but was suddenly grabbed by Yazoo. "Let me go!" Lana screamed.

"Don't go there! You will be killed!" Yazoo said.

"But my mama and papa…," Lana whimpered.

"Your mama told us to take care of you. Stay here, okay?" Yazoo told Lana, his grip on her was softened.

"Mama…papa…," Lana hung her head.

"We'll be here," Yazoo said and hugged the little girl.


	3. Power Unleashed

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 3**

The walk back to the village was a solemn one and silent, like the march of a funeral procession. The sight of the black village brought tears to their eyes. Nothing was moving, there was not a sound of life. There was only death in the village.

"Mama! Papa!" Lana screamed and ran into the burnt village. Lana found her hut and ran into the rubble, blood was on the walls but there was not a sign of her parents. The trio also had searched for their parents as well and ended up being disappointed.

"Anything?" Kadaj asked Lana. She shook her head and buried her face in his chest. "Don't cry," Kadaj comforted with his hand stroking her hair, "I'm here. I will protect you." Lana held onto him and nodded with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"We'll see if there's anything we could find that still can be used," Yazoo said, pulling Loz together with him.

"There's absolutely nothing we could get out of these rubbles!" Loz whined.

"Shut up and keep looking!" Yazoo shouted back at him.

"Kadaj!" Lana called, "I found some weapons!"

"I'm coming!" Kadaj called back and ran to her. Lana stooped over a steel container which was filled water and tried to reach for the weapons but found that her arms were too short to reach it. Loz and Yazoo also appeared behind them.

"Allow me," Loz said and he dived his hands into the container retrieving a rod, a gun, a samurai sword and a pair of fighting gloves.

"We should take these weapons with us. We never know what kind of monster that lurks in the forest," Yazoo said. Everyone nodded and took a weapon each. Loz took the gloves while Yazoo took the gun, Kadaj took the sword and Lana took the rod.

"I found some herbs in backyard of someone's hut. Apparently, the raiders have yet to burn it. It could be of some use to heal wounds," Loz said.

"I found some dried food near the forest. I think someone threw it there after they were caught. The food is still good," Kadaj said.

"Good! We'll bring it all to our campsite in the forest and wait for some help if there're any that will come," Yazoo suggested, which everyone agreed.

"Kadaj," Lana whispered.

"Hm?" Kadaj whispered back, his eyes looking at the starless sky above.

"Can I hold your hand?" Lana asked, "I don't want to wake up alone."

"Sure," Kadaj said and he reached for Lana's hand and squeezed it gently, "Go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Good night," Lana whispered to him and began to drift into slumber. Kadaj turned to her and closed his eyes, feeling the sleep that came over him.

"It seems that Kadaj is being more protective of Lana now," Loz said to Yazoo after they are out of their hearing distance. Yazoo nodded.

"I think we will have to learn how to use our weapons now, in case something or someone came to us," Yazoo said quietly. Loz agreed with Yazoo and they talked to each other to keep themselves from falling asleep during their watch.

"Wakey! Wakey!" Loz said when he shook the two sleeping kids.

"Where are we?" Lana yawned.

"In the forest, fleeing from the raiders," Yazoo reminded her.

Having heard that, Lana's face fell and tears threatened to fall again. "I'll be here," she heard Kadaj's voice beside her. She looked at him and forced a smile for him.

"There's something I need to take from the village. I will be back soon," Loz said.

"I'm coming with you," Yazoo said. "Kadaj, Lana, stay here. Kadaj, look after Lana for us," Yazoo commanded. Kadaj nodded and took up his sword. "We'll be back as soon as we can," Yazoo assured them.

"They're gone for almost an hour already," Lana said to Kadaj.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to them," Kadaj said. Lana nodded and took up her rod. When Kadaj turned around, Lana brought her rod downwards. Kadaj turned and blocked her attack with his sword.

"Hey! You could have got me killed!" Kadaj said, grunting as he struggled with one hand on the sword against Lana's rod which she used with both her hands.

"But I didn't!" Lana said. "If you did not block my attack, I could have—" she did not finish. A gunshot was heard in the air. "Yazoo…" was the only word that escaped her lips.

"Come on!" Lana called.

"But Yazoo said…" Kadaj protested.

"They might have met the raiders! They will be killed!" Lana shouted at Kadaj. Kadaj was lost and the thought of losing his brothers made him dashed for the village as fast as his feet could carry him.

Both Lana and Kadaj reached the village in time to see the defeat of Loz and Yazoo. They saw a raider fighting with Yazoo with a sword and another raider having a hand to hand combat with Loz. The raider with a sword easily threw Yazoo's gun away and drove his sword into Yazoo's abdomen. Yazoo fell face first onto the sand with blood oozing from his wound.

On the other hand, Loz was winning the combat but the raider who defeated Yazoo came to aid his friend and Loz began to get tired. Soon, Loz was kicked and punched by the two raiders. Kadaj and Lana could not utter a single word and they stood as still as statues. In the end, Loz was on the ground, motionless. It was then that the two raiders took notice of Kadaj and Lana.

Kadaj jumped in front of Lana with his sword in his hand when the two raiders approached them.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" the raider with the sword sneered.

"Two kids with weapons as high as them," the other one answered with a laugh.

"You! What have you done to my brothers?!" Kadaj shouted at them.

"We annihilated them," the first raider said. Lana gasped at his words and gripped her rod tightly. Kadaj raised his sword to his face.

"Haven't your mother told you not to play with sharp things?" the first raider said to him. With a swift move, he used his sword and threw away Kadaj's sword. Kadaj stepped back along with Lana.

"Run," Kadaj whispered to Lana.

"But," Lana protested.

"I'll be okay. Don't worry," he assured her, "Run!"

Lana slipped her rod into Kadaj's hand and turned to run back into the forest. She heard the sword clashed on the rod and a scream, Kadaj's scream. Lana turned back and froze. Kadaj was lying on his back; the two raiders were still kicking his small body. Kadaj had no strength left in him to scream but he looked at her with his deep blue eyes and told her to run. Lana shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"RUN!" Kadaj screamed at her with all his might. Lana stood still.

'Unleash your powers,' a voice said in Lana's head. 'Help your friends,' the feminine voice said, 'I will aid you.'

"But mama, I don't know how!" Lana screamed, "Kadaj! Loz! Yazoo!"

'Don't let them die,' she said. Lana shut her eyes, images of her parents, her friends and everyone filled her mind. Lana let out a loud scream.

"Wha—" the first raider exclaimed when he saw Lana's body glowing with a pinkish hue. Lana's eyes were still shut tight. The images still disturbed her. At last, the three brothers' image came to her mind. They were dead. Lana held her head with her hands.

Kadaj watched his childhood friend in agony but also in wonder. He did not see what was to happen next but he suddenly felt safe and warm. His pain had vanished and he rested his body.

Meanwhile, both the raiders were taken aback by Lana's incredible power. A barrier was around the three boys whom they have killed and it seemed to them that their wounds were healing by itself at an incredible rate. They blew their whistles and were answered by more whistles. Soon, more raiders made their way out of the village to the beach where Lana stood alone with pink aura around her. Lana slowly opened her eyes and saw many raiders around her. Fear took over her emotions.

'Don't fear them,' the voice said to her. Lana still could felt her head throbbing in pain.

"Sir, a new species of human," the first raider told the leader.

"Is she a Cetra?" the leader asked.

"Perhaps," the first raider replied.

"Take her!" the leader commanded. The two raiders moved to capture Lana but Lana's aura intensified until lines of pink flew out of her body towards every single raider in the village.

"Stop!" Lana shouted. Everyone froze. Every raider stared with horror at the pink ray of light that stopped an inch in front of their eyes. Lana drew in a deep breath and calmed her breathing. Her attack slowly vanished into the thin air. All the raiders looked at Lana for a moment before they ran back into the wild where they had stayed all their lives.

"A great power has awakened," a deep commanding voice said to himself. "Where is it?" Sephiroth asked himself. "Such great power will only be summoned if the need was dire," he said to himself and closed his green eyes. "There, by the beach," he said before he teleported himself to the beach where Lana looked after the three brothers.


	4. A Saviour

Okay…Sephiroth was a GOOD guy at first, right? So now Sephiroth is a good guy but later…that's later!! Read on!! Thanks for your reviews!! Love ya!!

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 4**

Lana ran across the beach from one injured brother to another. Cared for their health and built shelter for each of them but they did not open their eyes.

"Kadaj, can you hear me?" Lana cried to him. "If you can, let me know. Move a finger, anything! Just a sign," Lana begged. Lana knelt by him and stared at his face, now calm and peaceful. A shadow suddenly loomed above her. Lana gasped and turned to the stranger.

A man of great height with long silver hair and green eyes looked down at her. He wore a long black coat with metal shoulder pads and a long masamune was hung behind his back.

"Do you need my help?" he offered. "I can save them," he continued with a genuine smile. Lana nodded and allowed him to investigate the brothers for any methods that can be used on them.

"They're still alive but they will remain like this if we don't do something," Sephiroth said after a while. Lana looked at him desperately.

"What else can we do? I don't know what else to do," Lana said.

"I know what we can do but I don't know if you will approve of it," Sephiroth said. Lana looked up at him. He said, "We could put them in the tanks in a laboratory where we can control the activities of their bodies. By doing so, we could keep them alive until they are strong enough to wake up from their sleep."

"Please, please save them," Lana begged the silver haired stranger.

"All right," Sephiroth, "I'll teleport us all to the lab."

Lana nodded to him, "Thank you, sir."

"My name's Sephiroth," he replied with a smile, "But you can call me anything you like."

"My name is Lana," Lana replied. Sephiroth smiled at her as he carried Kadaj in his arms and walked to the other two.

"Hold my hand and don't let go," Sephiroth told Lana before he chanted his teleportation spell. Lana held his hand tightly before feeling herself being lifted into the air. She closed her eyes but when she opened them, she wasn't at the beach anymore. She was in a dimly lit room.

"You can let go of me now," the deep voice of Sephiroth told her.

Lana loosened her grip on his hand and watched him place Kadaj on a table and cuffed his hands and legs with metals which were attached to the table. With a wave of his hand, the scientists in another room pushed a button and brought the table into a standing position and lifted the table up along with Kadaj. Then, Kadaj was lowered into a glass tank. The top of the tank was then closed and water began to fill the tank. Just before the water reached Kadaj's neck, a tube attached to a breathing device covered his nose and mouth. Lana kept silent as she watched Yazoo and Loz entered the tubes.

"The scientists there," Sephiroth pointed at the men who wore white robes, "will let us know if they're getting better." Lana could only nod at him. "Go get some sleep in my room," he said and led Lana to his room.

When Lana woke up the next morning in Sephiroth's bed, she was alone and ate the simple breakfast that was laid on the table next to the bed. When Lana got up to the door, it swung open and Sephiroth stepped in.

"I knew you would be up by now," he said.

"Good morning," Lana stuttered.

"I have something to ask you," Sephiroth began, "Come and have a seat." Sephiroth sat in an armchair across Lana. Lana looked nervously at the figure in front of her whom she had known for a day.

"Did you know how I find you?" he asked. Lana shook her head. "A great power had drawn me to where you were," Sephiroth began. Lana began to tremble in fear. "I went there in search of this source of power but instead, I found you crying," Sephiroth continued.

"I didn't do it," Lana whimpered, "I didn't. I stopped before I could hurt someone."

"Does the power belong to you?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lana answered, "I heard my mama's voice in my head. She called me to unleash my power with her help but I don't know what she meant." Tears began to form in Lana eyes as she continued, "When I thought of Kadaj and his brothers dying, I lost control of my body. I could feel something inside me trying to come out. And I felt it coming out to kill people. I knew its purpose and I tried my very best to stop myself."

Sephiroth walked over to the child and hugged her tightly against his chest. Lana sobbed against his chest and clung onto his coat. Lana was scared of her powers and her lost; he knew it and he vowed to himself that he would help her as much as he could. Though he had only met Lana for a day, Sephiroth felt a strange feeling towards the girl. A feeling that he wanted to feel towards another human being, love; brotherly love.

"Well, little sister," Sephiroth broke the silence between them, "Let's take you to them." Sephiroth brushed aside Lana's tears and gave her a smile. "You wouldn't want them to see you cry, do you?" he teased. Lana shook her head.

"Big brother, how long will they sleep?" Lana asked Sephiroth as she stood in front of the tanks.

"I don't know," he replied as he held her by her tiny hand. He looked down at her, "They will wake up someday, I promise you."

Lana looked up at him and nodded, "I believe in you, big brother."

Life went on for Lana with her frequent visits to the lab every day. In her loneliness, she would talk to the three brothers and pretended that they have replied her questions. The scientists on duty could only watch over her for Sephiroth, who had missions he had to complete.

"Nothing new, kiddo," was what they would tell Lana everyday when she entered the lab. Then, they would see Lana hung her head on her chest and sat in front of them. Until one evening, Kadaj showed a change in the scientist's monitor.

"This can't be happening," a scientist whispered to his partner, "His pulses are getting lower. His body activities are becoming slower!"

"Shh!" his partner, Richard warned him, "Keep it low, Lana's here!"

"What do we do?" the first scientist asked.

"Robert, increase the output of the electricity for a moment," Richard commanded, "I'll get Sephiroth."

"Pulses and body activities returning to normal," Robert reported after he increased the output of electricity for Kadaj's tank for three seconds.

"What happened?" Sephiroth asked the two scientists after he had ushered Lana to his room.

"We almost lost Kadaj," Robert informed, "His body activities were getting slower just now but they have returned to normal after three seconds of increasing the electricity."

"This proves that they will not survived," Richard said, "Lana have to face their dea—"

"Silence!" Sephiroth roared, "You must save them, no matter what happens!"

"But there is no other way," Richard answered Sephiroth.

"Wait," Robert stopped them, "We could make their bodies stronger if we inject JENOVA's cell into them but there's no guarantee of what might happen to them after that." Sephiroth stared at him.

"Do it," Sephiroth said with a firm nod.

"We need more JENOVA's cells for this," Robert said.

"I'll get them from Hojo's lab," Sephiroth said before the exited the lab.

Sephiroth strolled down the corridor to his room, where Lana awaited his arrival. To his surprise, his room door was opened and when he went inside, Lana was not in there. Sephiroth panicked and turned to the door.

"What happened to Kadaj?" Lana voice rang in his ears. Sephiroth stared at the girl who stood at the door. "Is he dying?" she asked.

"No," Sephiroth lied, "He's not dying."

"He said 'lost'," Lana told him, "I know what it meant."

Sephiroth was defeated. "He's okay now," he said. He took a step to her and knelt on one knee. "I know how much they mean to you," he began. "The scientists remembered a way to save them. And I'll have to be away for while to get the medicine," he continued.

"Can I come along?" she asked. Sephiroth gave her an assuring smile and shook his head.

"I want you to look after your friends while I'm away," he said.

A/N : Okay, okay, okay. I know I crapped the machines……….


	5. Awakening

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 5**

"You must understand that you cannot and will not feel emotions," his wicked voice sounded in his ears. "You are not like the others. They are weak and useless but you are strong and powerful," Hojo's voice rang in his ears.

It had been years after he heard that statement and Sephiroth had believed his words. Sephiroth's meeting with Lana had proved Hojo's words to be an utter lie. Sephiroth may be just a commander of the SOLDIER but he could see the feelings around him. He found that others protected the ones they loved with their lives and would do anything in their power to lessen their loved ones' pain.

'The smile I gave Lana was the first smile that I have ever shown,' he told himself.

He left the research facility where Hojo was working a long time ago but now, he found himself standing at its door. He hated this place but he had to get the cells for Lana. Sephiroth opened the door and made his way to the place where JENOVA was kept.

After he extracted the cells with a syringe, Sephiroth began to turn to leave the room. A sudden movement by JENOVA made him turned back to face it.

"Sephiroth," her hoarse and robotic voice called out to him, "My son…"

"Who's there!?" a guard shouted. "Oh, Master Sephiroth, it's you," he stated when he saw Sephiroth staring at JENOVA. "Came here to see the ancient, eh?" he asked.

Sephiroth turned to the door and walked past the guard with JENOVA's words in his mind. With a shake of his head, he decided to dismiss the two words uttered by JENOVA that bothered him.

"Hang in there," Lana whispered to the three, "Big brother's getting the medicine for you." Lana stared at them. They have been in there for quite some time now and their hair had grown. Loz's almost bald head was now covered with two inches long hair, Yazoo's hair had now reached his chest and Kadaj's hair had reached his shoulders. But they still slept, unaware of their condition. The sound of an opening door made Lana turned to the door.

"Big brother!" Lana shouted with joy when she saw Sephiroth. He smiled at her and scooped her up for an embrace.

"Yes, I have returned. Did you worry about me, little sister?" he asked.

"Yes, I did!" she returned.

"Come on, let's go over to Richard and Robert," Sephiroth said which was agreed by Lana.

"Will something bad happen to them?" Lana asked as the two scientists made the preparations to insert the cells into the three brothers.

"I don't know," he answered, "They might become like me."

"Huh?" Lana looked at him.

"I have that medicine in me as well," he answered.

"I don't understand," Lana told him. Sephiroth wanted to explain everything to her but he kept quiet and watched the machines injected the cells into the three brothers. All three of them winced in pain for a moment before falling into unconsciousness again.

"Let them rest," Sephiroth said to Lana. Lana followed him reluctantly back to a comfortable room where she had slept for the past three months. "You can visit them tomorrow," he said before he entered his room which was beside hers.

Lana could not sleep that night and tossed and turned on the large bed. She couldn't help thinking about them now. Silently, she crept out of the bed and tiptoed out of the door. As she closed the door with a soft click, Sephiroth's eyes flung open. He got up from the couch he had fallen sleeping on and walked towards the door. As Lana disappeared behind a corner, Sephiroth slipped out of his room and tailed her.

"What are you doing?" Lana asked the scientists when she saw the same machine withdrawed from Kadaj's tank.

"That's none of your concern," Richard told her coldly.

"If Lana wishes to know," Sephiroth said behind her, "Tell her."

"Kadaj's is still too weak," Robert answered for his partner, "We gave him a second jab of its cells."

"You do realize that it would be dangerous for Kadaj," Sephiroth told Robert.

"The other two have shown drastic improvement after the jabs except Kadaj who had shown slight improvement," Robert stated.

"The second jab should be necessary," Richard interrupted.

"Should be?" Sephiroth questioned. "I will hold you responsible if anything wrong happens to him," he warned but the scientist ignored him. Sephiroth, who had been holding Lana's tiny hand, felt her tugging his hand. He looked down at her and followed her gaze.

Kadaj was struggling in the tank. Bubbles erupted from his breathing device and his whole body wriggled in pain. He could see Kadaj's hands were balled into fists as if he was fighting an enemy in his mind.

"Kadaj!" Lana cried as she released Sephiroth's hand and rushed in front of Kadaj's tank. "Kadaj," she called helplessly.

She looked up at him and a tear slipped from the corner of her eyes. When Kadaj had stopped moving, Lana stared at his face. Suddenly two green cat-like eyes sprang open and stared back at Lana. Lana shrieked and took a step back but she fell on her rear. Still captivated by the green eyes, Lana sat motionless staring back at Kadaj's eyes. Then, Kadaj closed his eyes and was unconscious again.

"Lana, is everything alright?" Sephiroth asked as he helped her up from the floor. "What's wrong?" he asked. Lana looked at the pale green tank and back at Sephiroth, who had knelt beside her. Lana put her hands on both sides of Sephiroth's face and stare into his eyes. Moments later, he broke the stare by calling her name.

"Kadaj's eyes weren't like yours," Lana stated, "His eyes looked scary but yours are kind and gentle."

"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth asked her.

"Kadaj's eyes are like yours but his looked scarier than yours just now," Lana explained. He did not give his reply and kept his silence.

"Sir," Robert began, "The three of them are now stable enough to be taken out of the tank. Should we remove them to the hospital wing?" he asked. Sephiroth looked at Lana for an answer. She nodded at him.

"Very well," he told the scientist. A yawn from Lana made Sephiroth carried her back to her room for a sleep despite her struggles. "I'll make sure they're safe," Sephiroth told her as he pulled the cover over her. As he turned to leave, Lana's little hand thrust out and caught Sephiroth's gloved hand.

"Thank you, Big Brother," she said. Sephiroth turned to look at her. He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Go to sleep," he said. Before he closed the room door, he saw Lana's eyes drooped and closed.

When Lana woke up late that morning, she sprang from her bed and flew out of her room to the hospital wing. She saw that Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz were placed in the same room and she stood still for a long time.

'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?' she asked herself when she realized that their hair was of silver colour and their skin had become paler than they used to be. 'Now they do look like Big Brother,' she said to herself.

"You woke up late," Sephiroth said behind her.

"They do look like you now," Lana said. "And if they will be as kind as you, I don't mind the change. But I do wonder if they mind," she mumbled.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "I'll talk to them when they wake up."

"Can I stay here and watch over them?" Lana asked Sephiroth.

"Of course you can," he said, "Just shout for me when you see anything wrong or right with them, okay?"

"I will!" Lana replied with a smile and a nod.

When Lana walked up to Yazoo later that evening, she saw his fingers moved. Lana quickly rushed out of the room and shouted for her Big Brother a few times before running back into the hospital room. Once in there, she saw Yazoo sat up on his bed with his hand rubbing his forehead.

Lana cried out his name and climbed onto the bed. When Yazoo heard the familiar voice, he looked up to find Lana flying at him with her arms wide open. In an instant, he found himself lying back on the bed with Lana lying on him; her arms were wrapped around his neck and she was crying.

"Hello to you too," Yazoo began. Sephiroth smiled to himself as he watched Lana embraced Yazoo. "Hey Lana, can you get off me for a moment? I'm still in a daze," Yazoo told her. Lana quickly scrambled down from the bed and watched Yazoo as he inspected himself.

"What happened to me?" he asked when he realized that his dirty blonde hair was now silver coloured and his skin was paler than usual. "Lana, what happened?" he asked again.

"That is the effect of the cells injected into your body," Sephiroth answered for Lana. "Lana wanted to save you," he continued. "I'll explain everything after your two brothers have awakened," he said before he left the room.

"Effects…," Yazoo repeated to himself.

"Yazoo, are you angry at me? For what I have done?" Lana asked.

With a smile, he replied, "No, Lana. You were trying to save us." "How can I be angry at you? I should be thanking you," he said as he ruffled Lana's brown hair.

"Will they be angry?" Lana asked as she looked at Loz and Kadaj.

"They'll understand," Yazoo replied. Lana smiled at him as he resumed investigating his new features.

'Judging by the length of my hair, I must have been in a coma for a long time,' he told himself. 'Three months at least,' he commented. At that moment, he heard a low groan from the bed on his left. Yazoo turned to see Loz turning on his side and slowly opened his eyes.

"Hello, brother," Yazoo greeted him while Lana smiled at him. Loz did not answer him but closed his eyes and went back to sleep. "Sleepy-head," Yazoo muttered under his breath and Lana gave him a mischievous smile.

"I heard that," Loz told Yazoo with his eyes closed. Suddenly, Loz felt something heavy landed on him.

"Wake up already!" Lana exclaimed to him. When Loz did not open his eyes, she began to shake him.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm up," Loz said at last ass he sat up on his bed. Lana smiled and got down from his bed. She walked over to Kadaj's bed and called him.

"Kadaj," Lana began, "Hey, everyone's awake, you sleepy-head." But Kadaj laid still. He did not stir.

"He might not be awake yet," Sephiroth's deep voice said out of nowhere. "He needs more rest than the other two," he continued as he emerged from the shadows behind the door. Lana saw the two scientists behind Sephiroth and looked at Sephiroth for answers.

"They said that if your friends have awakened, they are allowed to stay in the guest rooms," Sephiroth answered Lana. "The guest rooms are right beside your room," he continued and a smile was lit on Lana's face.

After all the preparations have been made, both Yazoo and Loz retired for the night in their rooms. Lana stayed behind in the hospital room.

"I wanna wait for Kadaj to wake up," she said when Sephiroth asked for her reason of staying. The night wore on but Kadaj still did not wake up from his deep sleep. Lana watched over him but she fell asleep after midnight on a chair beside Kadaj's bed. She still waited for him.


	6. Eternal Love

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 6**

As he opened his eyes to a dimly lit room, he heard her soft voice. She was calling for him. She had always called for him.

_"Kadaj! Kadaj! Where are you?" he remembered Lana's frantic voice. _

_"Kadaj, can I hold your hand?" Lana's quivering voice asked him._

_"Kadaj, come on!" her happy voice echoed in his ears._

_"KADAJ!" she shouted with her arms akimbo._

"Kadaj," Lana murmured in her sleep. Kadaj sat up on his bed and scanned the room. It looked like a hospital room to him except that the room did not have the smell of medicine.

"Kadaj," her soft voice called again. Kadaj looked down at her sleeping form. Lana's head was lying on the side of his bed and her hands pillowed her head. Kadaj lightly touched Lana's head with his left hand. Slowly, he felt Lana began to stir. Lana lifted her head and with her blurry eyes, she saw Kadaj smiled at her.

"Kadaj," Lana whispered, "Kadaj! You're awake!" she exclaimed as she flung her arms around him. Kadaj happily returned her embrace and laughed.

"Hey, Lana," Kadaj said. "Did you realize you have been calling for me in your sleep?" he asked Lana who had buried her face in his chest.

"No," Lana said as she faced Kadaj with tears.

"Hey, I'm still alive. Don't cry," Kadaj said as he brushed away her tears. Lana sniffled and stopped crying after a few deep breaths.

"You're late, brother," Loz voice was heard at the door. Yazoo too stood beside Loz at the door.

"You are all awake," Sephiroth said as he entered the room. "Then I shall explain everything to you. Follow me," he said as he turned to leave the room. "Lana, go to your room and get some sleep," he added. Lana nodded.

The explanation must have had an effect on the three brothers or at least that was what Lana had thought after that night. She noticed that the three brothers had been quiet the next morning and their faces seemed to have hardened a little. After breakfast, Lana approached Kadaj who sat alone in the garden.

"Kadaj," she began as she sat beside him, "What is it?"

"Nothing," was Kadaj's cold reply.

"Tell me," she insisted. Kadaj stared at her with his cat-like green eyes.

"I told you, it was nothing," he repeated, a little angrier than before. Lana was stunned by the harshness of Kadaj's voice that she fell silent. The two childhood friends sat in silence for a long time before Lana stood up and turned to leave.

"I'm sorry," Kadaj said in a calmer voice, "I was harsh."

"Don't worry about it," Lana turned around, "I just remembered that I have something to ask Big Brother." Kadaj did not reply but he watched Lana walked away with longing in his eyes.

"Big Brother," Lana said softly as she entered Sephiroth's room. She spotted Sephiroth sitting behind his desk and approached him. "What happened last night?" she asked.

"I told them the truth that they are now like me," he began, "Stronger than ordinary humans and more powerful. I gave them the choice of becoming a SOLDIER and live to serve humanity or to leave and live a normal life. Why do you ask?"

"They seemed to be troubled," Lana explained. "At anyway, thank you for filling me in, Big Brother," Lana said as she stood up and turned for the door.

Lana trotted down the corridor into her room. 'A SOLDIER life or a normal life?' she thought as she lazed on the bed, 'I don't understand it myself either.' A knock was heard on her door and Lana got up from the bed and answered it.

"Lana," Kadaj said as soon as the door was opened, "I want you to know that everything that my brothers and I will do is for you." With that, he turned to leave but Lana quickly caught his hand.

"What are you talking about?" Lana demanded.

"We're joining SOLDIER," he answered.

"I'm coming too," she said, determined.

"That's impossible!" Kadaj said out loud.

"I'll prove it to you," she said. Lana had no idea why she had said that she would join the SOLDIER with them. It was a hasty decision and yet she knew that she would never regret it as she would not be separated from the ones dearest to her anymore.

"These are for you," Sephiroth said as he handed them their weapons. Kadaj received a double bladed sword, which he called Souba. Yazoo received and gun which was shaped like a gunblade called Velvet Nightmare. Loz received a pile bunker named Dual Hound. Lana fingered her rod, Twilight Star. All of them except Lana received clothes made of leather which fitted them perfectly. Lana stayed in her comfortable blue linen dress.

"I will train each and every one of you personally and of course secretly," Sephiroth told them, "And when you are ready, I will get you to Shinra Corporation to be a real SOLDIER."

Under Sephiroth's guidance, all four of them trained hard everyday and their battling skills were always better than the last time they had practiced. Killing in battles became the three brothers' passion and their hearts and faces seemed to have hardened over time. But Lana's passion was to save and protect people especially the three brothers in battles. In fact it was Lana's cheerful attitude that had kept the three brothers' heart from being completely hardened.

Lana had always found the time to keep their hearts warm. She often persuaded Kadaj and the rest to accompany her for a walk around the town every weekend after they had moved into a comfortable small house in Nibelheim.

"We need a break once in a while, you know?" she always said when they refused to go. Kadaj was always the victim of Lana's. Though he disliked the looks he received from the others, he felt that he had to accompany Lana for an unknown reason. Perhaps he liked to see Lana's exciting and cheerful face when she discovered something in the shops or perhaps he just like to see Lana.

"Aw…come on," Lana persuaded one morning, "We gotta go!" she pouted.

"We're busy," both Yazoo and Loz lied together. "And no pouting. You are fifteen already not five, Lana," Yazoo warned.

"Kadaj's free," Loz said. Kadaj shot him a glare from the corner of the room.

"Yeah, I'm free," Kadaj said. "Come on. The earlier we go out, the more things we can see," he offered his hand; Lana left the two liars on the couch and took Kadaj's hand.

"Kadaj," Lana said as they walked into a silent street in Nibelheim.

"Hm?" Kadaj answered her.

"I know you don't like to go out of the house," she began, "Why did you come?"

"What are you talking about? I need some fresh air too!" he tried his best to lie.

"Okay," Lana accepted the lie and they kept quiet until they reached a busy street. As they walked around the shops, Kadaj glanced at Lana every now and then. He would smile to himself when he saw that Lana's expressions had changed when she found something that caught her eyes.

"Ah…that is a nice piece of necklace, I must say, young lady," the shopkeeper said when he saw that Lana was interested in a silver necklace with a heart shape within a circle. "This heart symbolizes love as you might have known, and the circle symbolizes eternity. In short, this necklace meant eternal love," he explained.

'Eternal love?' Kadaj said to himself. 'Lana,' his mind spoke.

"According to our legend, if someone gives this necklace to the one they love, they would live happily ever after. Would you like to put it on?" the shopkeeper offered. Kadaj looked at Lana, who blushed and pulled him out of the shop.

"Hey, what was that all about?" Kadaj asked.

"Nothing," Lana smiled as her face's colour gradually returned normal.

"Say it already," Kadaj persuaded but Lana ignored him and ran into an accessory shop. Kadaj followed her in and saw her tying her long hair with a long piece of white ribbon.

"How do I look with this ribbon?" she asked. Kadaj looked at the white ribbon that she had tied around her hair at the base of her neck.

"I prefer it if you don't tie your hair," Kadaj answered.

"I need to change my fashion sometimes," Lana said.

"Whatever, as long as you like it," he mumbled. While Lana was busy choosing a ribbon, Kadaj slipped out of the shop and made his way back into the shop where the necklace was.

"Ah, so you have returned," the shopkeeper exclaimed when he saw Kadaj entered his shop. "Would you be interested in that necklace named Eternal Love?" he asked.

"Kadaj, where were you?" Lana asked when she bumped into him outside the accessory shop.

"I was…uh…walking around," he stuttered.

"Around?" she questioned.

"Well, you know, those ribbons…I'm not interested in them," he continued.

"Okay," Lana said.

As they walked back to their house, Kadaj kept his hand in his pocket where a small box was kept. Eternal Love was in that box. Kadaj wanted to give it to Lana but he had no idea how to give it to her. So, he decided to keep quiet until the right time comes but they were already home before he knew it.

"What? Did you forget something?" Lana asked when she heard Kadaj mumbled something under his breath.

"Nothing," Kadaj replied.

"Hey, you guys had a great time?" Loz asked as they came through the door.

"Yeah, we sure did!" Lana exclaimed. Kadaj headed straight for his room. "Kadaj…?" Lana called softly after him.

"This is sooo embarrassing!" Kadaj scolded himself as he kept the box in his drawer, "What was I thinking? Lana wouldn't love a childhood friend, she would never!"

'Perhaps she would,' his own voice answered him.

"Yeah right," he snapped.

"Kadaj? Who are you talking to?" Lana's voice was heard behind his door.

"No, I wasn't talking to anyone," Kadaj said as he opened the door.

"Anyway, what happened? Why did you run straight into your room?" Lana asked.

"I was, uh, never mind," Kadaj stuttered.

"Well, if you don't wanna talk about it, it's okay," Lana told him, "But your brothers have something to talk to us. I don't know what it's about though. It seemed kinda serious."

"Oh, okay. Let's go," was all he said as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"So, what do you guys want to talk to us about?" Kadaj spoke as Lana and him entered the living room.

"We were thinking," Loz began, "About Big Brother. He hasn't come and visits us for more than a year. And we need to show him that we are much stronger now."

"We should have qualified to join the SOLDIER a long time ago," Yazoo interrupted, "But because Big Brother did not come, we had to wait."

"We can go find him in Midgar!" Lana suggested, "Besides, ShinRa Corp. is there too. It would make things easier!"

"Yeah!" Kadaj agreed.

"It's not that easy," Yazoo said, "Big Brother is always traveling. We don't know if he's in Midgar for sure."

"Besides, we'll get into trouble if we go ahead and look for him," Loz said.

"How come?" Lana asked.

"The news had it some time ago that Big Brother burnt down one part of the city or something," he informed. "So, Big Brother is now a threat to this planet. I think they did mentioned something about JENOVA," he continued.

"You're lying," Lana said, "Big Brother wouldn't do that!"

"It's what the news said," Yazoo said.

"Big Brother isn't a bad guy," Lana said, "He's a kind big brother."

"Lana, let go to Midgar to see things for ourselves," Kadaj suggested.

"NO!" both Yazoo and Loz exclaimed together. "It's dangerous!" Yazoo said.

"But," Lana protested but Kadaj tugged at her sleeve.

"Fine, we'll wait," Kadaj said with a sigh.


	7. That Day

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 7**

"None of this could have happened if I weren't so stubborn!" Kadaj slammed his fist on the transparent glass of a tank which was placed in a horizontal state. "I'm so sorry!" he said as a tear slipped down his cheek. "I'll save you, no matter what. Hang in there, Lana," he assured Lana, who was lying unconscious in the tank.

"Kadaj, it's time," Loz said at the door. Kadaj gave a nod to Lana before he exited the cool room. Lana had been asleep for two years. It was during their escapade in Midgar, they did not know that it was a time of Crisis; Kadaj knew disregarded Lana's premonition as another nightmare and caused them to run to safety in the chaotic city. Lana saved Kadaj but she was knocked unconscious.

Yazoo and Loz too went to Midgar after them but they came after the Meteor was stopped by the LifeStream. They would never forget Kadaj's expression when they approached him. He was cradling the unconscious Lana in his arms and his face was marred by the tears that had flowed down his cheeks.

Ever since they laid Lana in the tank, Kadaj had been quiet and reserved. It was like he had hardened his heart and no one could bring back the old Kadaj, not even his brothers. Everyday, Yazoo and Loz would watch as Kadaj visited Lana. Kadaj even left Eternal Love in Lana's hand. He was waiting for her answer.

The three brothers were now speeding in the highway in the middle of the ruined Midgar. All of them rode in silence until Kadaj gave a signal to Yazoo while Loz and Kadaj increased their speed.

Yazoo hid himself behind some rubble on the highway and he sat quietly on his motorbike, waiting for their so-called brother. A moment passed by and he heard the roaring of their brother's motorbike. Cloud zoomed past some rubble without knowing that an enemy had hid himself there.

Yazoo took off after Cloud and upon hearing the roaring of engine behind him, Cloud cursed himself for letting his guard down. He could hear his enemy drawing closer to him but he did not look behind him. Cloud prepared himself to block any attack that the enemy will pull out.

Yazoo quickly zoomed past Cloud and made a 270 degree turn with his motorbike. He pulled out his gunblade with his left hand and fired at Cloud, who managed to pull out his oversized sword to block Yazoo's bullets. Yazoo soon engaged in a battle with Cloud on their motorbikes.

Meanwhile, Kadaj and Loz went ahead into Midgar and to look for the children who were infected with GeoStigma. After confirming the number of the children who are infected, they prepared to leave. Yazoo appeared moments later after he had knocked Cloud unconscious in the highway.

"Go back to our quarters," Kadaj commanded his two elder brothers. "Let me play with my new found brother. He should be on his way here again by now," he said as a wicked smile graced his face.

Cloud sped along the highway, cursing himself for letting his guard down again. As he looked up ahead of the highway, he saw a shadow of a man in black standing in the middle of the highway. 'It's him again,' he thought. But he was wrong. Blue light emerged from Kadaj's left hand and flew towards Cloud.

Cloud hit on the gas and the motorbike sped towards the enemy faster. The blue light caused an explosion behind Cloud and threw Cloud, along with his motorbike into the air. As Cloud flew towards his enemy, he withdrew his large sword. When he was within the attack range, he swung his sword downward. But with a swift turn, Kadaj used his double bladed sword to parry Cloud's attack.

Cloud landed on the highway in one piece. He got off his motorbike and faced his opponent. As they began to circle one another, Kadaj ran into a ruin beside the highway. Cloud saw it and he ran after him. When he stepped onto the empty floor where rubbles were all around him, he saw the silver haired enemy grinned at him. Hate flared in Cloud's eyes as he remembered someone whom he once respected.

"It's nice to see you too, Brother," Kadaj greeted sinisterly with Souba in his left hand.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted in anger.

"No," Kadaj replied calmly, "He's dead. You killed him, remember?"

"Who are you?" Cloud demanded.

"Kadaj," Kadaj answered with a wicked smile.

'_He's not the one I fought earlier,_' Cloud said to himself.

"It seems my brother left all the excitement to me," Kadaj laughed. Confusion was written clearly on Cloud's face. "You may have stopped Reunion two years ago but no more, Cloud. We will have the Reunion again, with Mother," Kadaj continued as he raised his sword.

"Over my dead body!" Cloud shouted and charged towards Kadaj.

Sparks flew as the two swords clashed together. Cloud was clearly struggling to defeat his new opponent but Kadaj was calm. Cloud kept looking at his opponent's features and moves. He saw that Kadaj was merely a teenager but his speed and agility could even outmatched Yuffie.

'Reunion with Mother and Lana,' Kadaj's mind spoke as the white ribbon that Lana once used flew into his view and momentarily wavered his concentration in the battle. When Kadaj came back to reality, Cloud had pushed him into the air with his oversized sword. Flipping his way to safety as he had learnt, Kadaj landed with style on the ground and charged at Cloud once again.

'This is for Lana!' Kadaj shouted in his mind. With the new strength, Kadaj forcefully threw Cloud's sword away from Cloud's grip. Kadaj landed on his knees with his back facing Cloud, waiting for Cloud's trick. As he expected, Cloud withdrew another sword and slashed at Kadaj, who successfully dodged it.

'_What_?' Cloud exclaimed in his mind.

'_Kadaj…'_ Kadaj heard a familiar voice called him.

"Sorry to end this so soon, Brother," Kadaj suddenly said. "Next time, you will be dead!" Kadaj said as he jumped onto the rubble and disappeared into the city. Cloud was speechless and stunned of what had just happened that he stood there for a few minutes.

Kadaj hurried back onto his motorbike and went back to the place where they had been hiding for the past two years. It was a laboratory which was once used for the Mako experiments. They had been living in the rooms next to the lab where Lana was resting. Kadaj ran straight into Lana's room, ignoring the stares he received from his brothers.

"Lana," Kadaj called softly when he stood beside her, "Did you call me?" There was no response. "Lana," he called again. "I was dreaming again then," he muttered to himself as he sat down on the long couch beside Lana. Slowly, he began to feel drowsy and fell asleep on the couch.

"_Lana!" Kadaj said, "Hurry up!"_

"_I'm here!" Lana whispered behind him._

"_Come on," Kadaj said, "We'll find Big Brother in Midgar." Both Kadaj and Lana crept out of the house and made their way to the train station in the wee hours of the morning. After a few minutes of waiting, a train bound to Midgar arrived. They boarded the train and sat down, away from the other passengers. _

"_We will meet Big Brother again soon, Lana," Kadaj said excitedly. Lana nodded. Then everything was silent. No one spoke in the train as everyone was fast asleep. Only Lana and Kadaj were awake. _

"_Hey, Lana," Kadaj said._

"_Hm?" Lana said with her eyes closed._

"_About the necklace," he began, "The one called Eternal Love?"_

"_Mm-hm," Lana murmured. _

"_What would you do if someone gave it to you?" Kadaj asked. _

_Lana opened her drowsy eyes and looked at him, "What do you mean?"_

"_Will you wear it?" Kadaj asked. Lana's eyes drooped and she closed them._

"_It depends on who gave it to me," Lana's voice got softer as she slowly gave in to sleep. Kadaj was close enough to hear her, he was somewhat relieve and yet afraid._

'What if she doesn't accept me?_' Kadaj asked himself. '_Maybe Lana thought that I'm only her friend or worse…a brother?_' Kadaj shuddered at that thought and tried to shake the thought out of his head. Suddenly, he felt a weight on his right shoulder. He turned and saw Lana sleeping with her head on his shoulder. _

_Kadaj was shocked and when he tore his eyes away from her, he could feel warmth spreading on his face. As the train journeyed further, Kadaj too felt tired and fell asleep without him knowing that he had rested his head on Lana's head. _

"_Hey, lad," the voice of a man rang in Kadaj's ears. Kadaj slowly opened his eyes and looked at the middle-aged man. "We have arrived in Midgar. Are you going down?" he asked. Kadaj nodded at him and thanked him for waking him up. _

"_Lana," Kadaj whispered as he gently shook her shoulder, "Lana, wake up."_

"_Hm?" Lana stirred. _

"_We in Midgar already," Kadaj told her._

"_So soon?" Lana complained as she lifted her head from a very comfortable pillow. "Oh!" Lana exclaimed when she realized that she had fallen asleep on Kadaj's shoulder, "I'm sorry! I didn't know I was sleeping there!"_

"_No worries," Kadaj smiled, "Come on!" he said as he offered his hand to Lana. Lana took his hand and walked out of the train. Lana's face was bright red as they strolled down the streets of Midgar hand in hand but she turned to face another direction when Kadaj turned to her. _

"_What's wrong?" Kadaj asked when he realized that something was not right about Lana. Lana hung her head as low as she could and shook her head. Lana had even tried to hide her blush with the help of her long brown hair but realized that she had tied them up with the white ribbon. _

_Seeing that she wouldn't answer him, Kadaj left the matter at the back of his mind. Kadaj's heart was jumping with joy as he held Lana's hand in his. He couldn't hide the smile on his face. Lana, who did realize that Kadaj was smiling, thought that he was happy to see Big Brother again. _

"_We'll just get a room here," Kadaj said when they found an inn, "We never know when we will find Big Brother." Lana nodded at him and followed him in._

"_Hello!" a young female receptionist greeted them._

"_Can we have two single bedded rooms, please?" Kadaj said to her._

"_I'm sorry," she said, "We have only a twin room. Would that be okay?" _

_Kadaj looked at Lana, who nodded. "That'll be fine," Kadaj said to the receptionist._

"_There you go," she said as she handed Kadaj the keys, "Have a nice stay!"_

"_Sorry we had to stay in the same room," Kadaj said as he closed the room door._

"_It's okay," Lana said, "Besides, we could save some money."_

"_We'll get freshen up a bit before we go gather some information about Big Brother's whereabouts," Kadaj suggested. Lana headed into the adjoining bathroom leaving Kadaj lonely in the room, feeling embarrassed. After Lana had showered, she came out to find Kadaj staring out of the window. _

"_Your turn!" Lana surprised him with a push behind him. _

"_Wha-" Kadaj exclaimed as he held on the window, "Hey-" he began to whine but Lana smiled at him with the most amusing smile she could show in front of him. "That wasn't nice," he stuttered as he felt a blush on his cheeks._

"_I know," Lana smiled, "At least, I got you out of your day dream!"_

"_Whatever," Kadaj smiled as he closed the bathroom door. '_What's happening to me? Why am I getting so nervous around Lana? This wasn't supposed to happen! Geez_,' Kadaj's thoughts when he stared out of the window flooded back into his mind. '_There's no denying it, isn't it? That I'm beginning to develop a new feeling towards Lana…I wonder how nice it would feel to hold her and…,_' Kadaj stopped himself. '_What are you thinking?_' he scolded himself. _

"_What took you so long?" Kadaj heard Lana's voice as he stepped out of the bathroom. _

"_I was, uh, enjoying the bath," Kadaj smiled. "We better get going," Kadaj said before Lana could interrogate him any further. _

"_Where should we start?" Lana asked Kadaj as they strolled down the street. _

"_Shin-Ra Company?" Kadaj suggested. Lana smiled at his idea._

_As they approached the big building, a guard walked up to them, "Hello there, can I help you?"_

"_Um, we're looking for Sephiroth," Kadaj told him, "Can you tell us where we can find him?" The guard looked terrified for a moment before he composed himself._

"_That guy," he said, "You are looking for him to avenge your parents, right?" he asked. Lana gasped but Kadaj held her hand and nodded to the guard. "I guess you'll find him in the afterlife," the guard continued, "The AVALANCHE is going after him, to the North Crater, I think. After all, that guy did destroy a lot of homes and killed a lot of people."_

"_AVALANCHE?" Lana asked._

"_Yup, the leader is Cloud," the guard informed them, "They're a group of good fighters I must say. Heh, this time, Sephiroth is doomed!" _

"_Thank you, sir," Kadaj said and pulled Lana along with him._

"_Big Brother wouldn't do that, would he?" Lana asked Kadaj._

"_I wish I could say that he wouldn't do that, Lana," Kadaj said, "But if that guard was telling the truth, then something must have happened to him and made him did all those things."_

"_Let's split up and look for other information from other people," Lana suggested._

"_Alright, meet back at the inn at six," Kadaj said and waved at Lana before heading to the north of the crossroad. Lana waved back and headed to the west. _

_All day, they walked up to so many people asking about Sephiroth's whereabouts but they ended up with the same information as was given by the guard. _

"_How was it?" Kadaj asked as Lana walked into the room. Lana shook her head. "Me too," he sighed. _

"_Now what are we suppose to do?" Lana mumbled. _

"_Get some food and then some sleep," Kadaj said, "We will take the train tomorrow to the North Crater and find Big Brother." That suggestion was immediately agreed by Lana._

_That night, Lana had a premonition while she was sleeping. She was thrashing on the bed, crying helplessly. She called out his name time after time as she couldn't reach him in her premonition. But in reality, Kadaj had already circled his arms tightly around her, to tell her that he was there. _

"_Lana! Lana!" he began to shook her, "LANA!"_

"_Aaah-," Lana was stopped by Kadaj's hand over her mouth. She looked up at Kadaj and tears began to pour down from the corner of her eyes. "Kadaj," Lana whimpered as she laid her head on Kadaj's shoulder. _

"_It's alright. I'm here," Kadaj comforted. He felt Lana shook her head._

"_I saw a Meteor coming," she said, "I got injured and I died…"_

"_Don't be silly!" Kadaj said, "You won't die. I'm here, I'll protect you. I won't let you die, I promise." Lana did not reply. _

"_Get some more sleep," he told her and reluctantly released his hold on her but Lana still held on to his collar. Kadaj looked down at the gentle girl whom he knew for eight years. There were still tears flowing from her eyes. "I'll be here till you fall asleep," he whispered in her ear and he wrapped his arms around her once again. _

'I've always held her like this_,' Kadaj's mind drifted, '_It always seemed right. It always felt comfortable. But why now do I feel so afraid to let go of her? Am I so afraid of losing her? Lana…_'_

'Kadaj…I know that I can always depend on you_,' Lana wished she said to him. '_I feeling so weak, Kadaj, but you kept me strong. You would stay by my side no matter what happens to this world,_' Lana closed her eyes and willed her tears to stop, '_Thank you_.'_

"Lana…," Kadaj murmured in his sleep as his brothers looked on from the door.


	8. Terror in Midgar

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 8**

_"Lana!" Kadaj called as he turned back to look at Lana, who stared at the sky above them. "Lana, come on! The train's leaving!" Kadaj pulled her along with him to the station. Lana followed but her eyes did not leave the clear blue sky. When they reached the station, the train had yet to arrive and both of them stood by the platform. Suddenly, Lana's eyes looked worried and she gasped._

_"It's coming!" she said to Kadaj. _

_"What?" he asked._

_"Meteor," Lana said, her hands trembled and she felt her knees were going to give away. Kadaj looked at the blue sky for a long time before he saw a fiery ball falling from the sky. _

_"Come on!" Kadaj pulled Lana's hand and headed to the exit of the station. "We'll figure out a way to get to the Northern Crater after we get out of here!" he said as they ran towards the exit of the city. Lana smiled at him and ran beside him._

_'_What is this feeling?_' Lana asked herself as she felt a someone or something was trying to tell her something, '_A call_.' Time seemed to have slowed as Lana turned to look behind her. The impact from the Meteor had caused a big chunk of concrete to disintegrate from a nearby building and it flew towards them. Lana turned back at Kadaj who did not know about the concrete and she panicked. _

_"Kadaj!" Lana screamed as she threw herself at him, pushing him away from the concrete's path towards the wall of a building. Kadaj's head could have knocked on the building's concrete wall if it was not for Lana, who had covered his head with her hands. They stood there, as if time had stopped. Lana's hands suddenly slipped and hung loose on her sides._

_"Lana!" he exclaimed when he saw the blood on her hands. But she did not reply. She still stood leaning on him. "Lana!" he called again and put his arms around her waist to help her stand on her feet. Lana winced in pain. "Lana!" Kadaj called as he held up his bloodstained hand. His eyes widened in horror and he looked at the chunk of concrete that lay a few meters away from him. Long and thick metals were seen protruding out of it. Blood dripped from one end of the metals. _

_"LANA!" Kadaj screamed as he held the girl that he had loved ever since he first saw her. "Lana, hang in there," he told her as he carried her towards the exit of the city and towards safety. _

_"Kadaj," Lana whispered as she looked up at Kadaj, "I'm sorry."_

_"What's to sorry about?" Kadaj forced a laugh, "You'll be okay. I promised that I won't let you die, remember?" Lana smiled. _

_"Thank you," she said._

_"What are you talking about?" Kadaj laughed, "You are so funny, you know? You were saying sorry one moment and then thank you another moment." He stopped at the main entrance of the city. He saw the LifeStream, twirling in the sky above him in a faint green glow to the Meteor. A soft voice called him. _

_"Kadaj," Lana called, "Everything's all right. The Meteor will be stopped."_

_"Shh," Kadaj hushed her, "Save your strength. I'll get you to the doctors. You'll be alright." Kadaj resumed his walk. _

_"I'm sor-," Lana repeated._

_"Don't say it!" Kadaj said, pain was clearly in his voice, "Don't say it, Lana." _

_Lana looked up at him to see Kadaj's eyes glistened. "Kadaj," she whispered. _

_"Don't you dare leave me, Lana," Kadaj stopped in his walk and stared into her brown eyes. "Don't leave me," he repeated._

_"I'm sor-," Lana began but was interrupted by Kadaj._

_"I said don't say that!" A tear slipped down his cheek. "I'll save you, remember?"_

_Lana smiled at him, "Thank you." Kadaj resumed his walk.  
_

_"Hey, Kadaj," Lana said softly after a while, "Will we ever go home?"_

_"Home?" Kadaj asked as he walked._

_"I want to watch the sea again," Lana said._

_"I'll bring you there once you get well, alright?" Kadaj said but Lana did not answer him. "Lana?" he called as he stared at Lana, "Open your eyes. We're almost there." Still, Lana did not stir. "No," he stopped in his walk, "NO!"_

"NO!" Kadaj screamed as he woke up from his memory. He looked around him and sighed with his head on his hands. "It was always that memory. Always that moment. But you were only tired then, you did not leave. You're still here," he said as he touched the glass, "Reunion, you feel it too, don't you?"

"He's alright, right?" Loz asked his brother, who nodded without looking at him. "Really, I haven't seen him cry in ages. That day in Midgar, it was the first time he had cried since he was four," Loz mumbled. Yazoo nodded.

"Lana mean a lot to him, Loz," Yazoo said, "And to us too."

"Yeah, she's always the one to cheer us up when we're down," Loz agreed.

Kadaj came out of the lab and looked at his brothers. "It's time to go," was all that he said as he passed them by. The other two brothers nodded and followed him.

"Round them up," Kadaj said, "I going to meet the president." Yazoo and Loz nodded as they reached the ruined Midgar.

"The day you found us," Kadaj began as he entered the room. A white caped man sat on a wheel chair looked at Kadaj, who proceeded to kneel in front of him and reached for his right hand that was left on the handle. "I have worshipped you as I have worshipped Big Brother," he continued. He looked up to the caped man, "We have sworn to lend you our strength if you keep her alive."

The caped man was silent. "That is what I'm doing now. That is what we are doing now, Mr. President," Kadaj said as he rose to his feet with a smile.

"You know there isn't a Promised Land," the caped man said, "It's all a bunch of lies!" Kadaj laughed wickedly at his comment. "Avalanche will stop you," he continued.

"Cloud?" Kadaj sneered, "Him? What can he do?" The caped man was silent. "I haven't told, have I? I almost killed him!" he laughed hysterically, "I could have killed him that day! He's such a weakling!"

"They were able kill Sephiroth two years ago and also managed to save our world," the caped man said.

"And?" Kadaj dared. "He can't stop us now; we're just too strong for him and for them too." The caped man stared at with unseen eyes. "You don't believe me do you?" Kadaj questioned. He laughed as he pushed the caped man's wheelchair out of the room.

He didn't utter a word as Kadaj brought him to a dusty room with a wall torn down. Kadaj left him in the middle of the room and walked near the edge of the floor where the wall was supposed to be. He looked down from the place he stood and saw children marching in rows out of the city while the adults scurried into shadows. "Look down there," he pointed at the city below him. The caped man obeyed his words.

"The city is dark," Kadaj said looking down at the city, wind blew past him, "Everyone could feel the fear that creeps at the very corner of their hearts." Kadaj turned back to the caped man. "Now I'll make their fears come true!" Kadaj said as he raised his left hand. Green light began to emerge on his arm and Kadaj had a satisfied grin on his face as he watched the power surged within him.

"You have her power," the caped man said as he watched in horror. Kadaj's grin widened as he turned back to the city and released the power towards the sky. Then, everything was silent. There was not a sound in the air or from the city. It was totally silent.

The caped man remembered Kadaj's visit one evening. The sun cast the horizontal shadows of the window blinds in his room on both of them.

_"We'll find Mother," he remembered Kadaj said as he stood in front of him. _

_"JENOVA is dead," he said. _

_"Geostigma," Kadaj began as he walked around the caped man, "It happens only to those who are fighting so hard against Mother, like the LifeStream. This is all Mother's doing. She's still alive."_

_"Even if she's alive, you won't be able to find her," he said. _

_Kadaj stood in front of the caped man now, with his back to him. "We need Mother's powers," he said in a serious tone before he turned to face him, his green orbs full of determination, "We need it for the Reunion, no matter what."_

"This is the power Mother bestowed upon me," the caped man heard Kadaj said. He looked into the dark clouds and felt that something evil was about to emerge from the clouds beyond. His instincts did not let him down as he soon saw a winged beast flew out of the clouds towards the city and its people. Kadaj turned back to the former president of the ShinRa Company, "This…is our power."

More and more of those winged beasts flew down from the sky and attacked the citizens. The caped man watched in horror as screams echoed throughout the city. Kadaj had a wicked grin pasted on his face as the watched the people ran for shelter only to be snatched from the shelter by the beasts.

"You are insane," the caped man said to Kadaj. Kadaj merely laughed at him and continued to stare into the sky, as if he were expecting something. Something like the winged beasts but it was something more powerful.

Then, a roar was heard high up in the sky. Kadaj's grin grew broader as he saw the clouds began to give way to something that was descending down from the sky. Another roar was heard and this time it was answered by the beasts that were already in the city.

"Bahamut Sin," Kadaj said, "That is its name." A creature far bigger than the ones in the city appeared as a blast of energy made the clouds parted for its entrance. More screams echoed throughout the city and Kadaj said, "I have matters to attend to. Excuse me."

"Loz, get the girl!" Kadaj said when he met Yazoo and Loz in the city, "Meet us in the forest." Loz nodded at his leader and brother before he sped off to an abandoned church.


	9. GeoStigma

Sorry if the story is kinda hard to follow Hollowed Shame…just wanna tell everyone that starting from Chapter 7, it all happened in Advent Children.

Thanks Cat Alex for the review…I did realize that my story lacked description but I haven't played FF7 nor have I watched FF7 AC yet. So, I thought you guys should know. Oh, well…I'll try to bring in more description in this chapter.

The dialogues here are created. That's not exactly what GeoStigma is. I'm just trying to figure out what would be best to go with the lines Kadaj said to the kids in the forest. I'm using the 4 minutes plus trailer in this chapter along with the fan-made subtitle. So, I'm sorry if I get anything wrong here. As for what GeoStigma exactly is, we have to wait till the movie comes out

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 9**

"Denzel!" Tifa called, "Denzel!" She looked frantically around her. People were screaming and running from the monsters that had appeared from the sky. As she turned around, she saw a brown haired boy standing as still as a statue. "Denzel!" Tifa ran to him, "Are you alright?" He did not answer her.

"Alright, who's messing with my Materia?" a cherry voice said as she landed beside Tifa.

"Yuffie!" Tifa smiled.

"We got things here," she said, "Get the others to a safe place."

"Marlene's okay, right?" the dark skinned man said. His right arm which was replaced by a machine gun rang as he shot them at the monsters.

"She's at the orphanage, Barret," Tifa informed him.

"Get the children to a safe place!" Cid shouted at them as he thrusted his spear at the incoming monster.

"We'll be at the church!" Tifa said, "Denzel, come on!" But Denzel was nowhere in sight.

"Get Marlene!" Yuffie shouted, "We'll get Denzel!" Tifa nodded and raced back to the shabby orphanage. Marlene had hidden herself in a cupboard and kept as still and silent as she could.

Tifa threw open the door and called for her. She walked up the wooden stairs and looked into the rooms. "Marlene!" she called. Marlene, upon hearing Tifa's call, opened the cupboard and ran to her.

"Tifa!" she cried.

"Marlene!" Tifa exclaimed happily, "Are you alright?" she asked as she checked Marlene's body for any cuts or bruises. Marlene shook her head. "Come on, we have to go," Tifa said as pulled Marlene out of the house and ran to the abandoned church.

"Tifa, where's Cloud? He stays here, right?" Marlene asked when they had entered the church. The church looked like it hadn't been used since the Meteor fell and the big hole on its roof was never fixed. The sunlight that had reached the garden of the church through that hole gave life to a small garden of flowers.

"I don't know where he is, Marlene," Tifa replied. A piece of bloodied bandage on a nearby stool caught her eyes. She made her way to it with Marlene tagging behind her. Marlene crouched and took the bandage in her hand.

"It's the same with Denzel's," she said and looked up at Tifa, "Is Cloud sick too?"

"He's planning to fight alone," Tifa mumbled.

"Fight?" Marlene asked as she stood up.

"No, he's not going to put up a fight at all," Tifa mumbled softer.

"Tifa," Marlene began but was interrupted by the rumbling of a motorcycle outside the church. Both Tifa and Marlene looked at the entrance expecting Cloud to show up but a well-built man with short silver hair man greet their smiles.

"I'm here for the girl," Loz said.

Kadaj walked towards the children who had gathered in the forest. They had foreign looks on their faces as Kadaj approached them. A small whimper shifted his gaze to the little pony-tailed girl in a grey dress who stood behind Loz. Kadaj grinned as he remembered Loz's report of a stubborn black haired woman in the church with Marlene, their doorway to reach the LifeStream. Kadaj turned his attention back to the other children.

With one deep breathe and with his hands rose in the air, he said, "Do you know why we have brought you here?" Kadaj's sudden loud voice frightened the children and they shrank back in fear. "Do not fear us," Kadaj lowered his voice, "We're here to help you as my brothers have said before leading you all here. Let me explain everything to you."

"Everyone," Kadaj began in a calm voice, "Everyone here are infected with Geostigma, am I right?" Silence answered his question. "Everyone here wanted to grow up and become who we want to be! But the planet doesn't like that," Kadaj lowered his head and walked slowly to the children. "It's trying to stop us by racking our bodies in pain and filling our hearts with doubt," he said with anger in his voice as he pointed at the children.

With a calmer voice again, he said, "However, I can save you. Come with us to Mother." Wisps of smoke began to develop around Kadaj and when he spoke next, there was pain and anger in his voice, "Fight with us and Mother as a family! And bring the goddamned planet down to its knees!" Suddenly it was Kadaj who was on his knees, gasping for air. Yazoo and Loz quickly rushed to his side and helped him up. Marlene, who was release by the careless Loz ran into the crowd.

"Kadaj!" both of the brothers yelled. Kadaj was still gasping for air. With another gasp, the pale green smoke around Kadaj intensified and sped from him towards the children. Kadaj sat on the floor and regained his breath. When he looked up next, he was faced with a group of children already taken over by JENOVA through the Mako gas.

"Tifa!" Cloud called Tifa, who was laid half-conscious in his arms, wounds all around her body.

"Cloud," she whispered, "They got Marlene. A silver haired man came for her. She's in the forest near the Ancient Ruin."

"Hang in there, Tifa," he said as he lifted her up.

"There's no time, Cloud," Tifa said, "Get Marlene back."

"After I get you to the doctors," Cloud replied.

"Leave me here," she said, "Go. Quickly. The rest will come, don't worry about me." Cloud reluctantly laid her back on the floor.

"I'll return with Marlene, Tifa," he said, "I promise you."

Cloud sped on his motorcycle out of the church which was located at the edge of the city towards the forest. As he rode, the sun slowly sank behind the mountains. When he reached the edge of the forest, night had already fallen. As he continued into the forest he saw shadows moving ahead of him.

When he looked up, he saw that a boy stood in his way. Marlene was by his side, trying to pull him away. Without a second thought, Cloud swerved his motorcycle to the side. The impact had knocked him off the motorcycle and into the ring of ghostly children.

"I knew you would come!" Kadaj exclaimed as Cloud gasped for breath.

"I'm here for the kids!" Cloud said, but Kadaj ignored him.

With his double-bladed sword in hand, Kadaj began to circle Cloud. "This man here," he said to the children, "He's actually our brother. But then, regretfully, he betrayed us." Kadaj lowered his sword to Cloud's throat, "And a traitor always dies!"

"Cloud!" Marlene shouted. Cloud back flipped in time to avoid Kadaj's sword on his throat but it caught his left arm. He clutched his arm in pain. Marlene came to his side. The sound of a gun against a sword drew Cloud's attention back to Kadaj.

"Quick, get away with the girl," the red caped man said. Cloud nodded and pulled Marlene along with him into the forest.

"Stay out of this," Kadaj told him.

"Hmph," Vincent looked at him, "You should learn some manners when you are talking to someone older than you."

"If you are getting in our way," Kadaj said, "We'll destroy you."

"Try me," Vincent dared Kadaj. Kadaj smiled wickedly.

"Don't regret it," Kadaj said and thrust his leg towards Vincent's abdomen. The kick broke their weapon's contact and Kadaj calmly circled Vincent.

"I'll stop you," Vincent told Kadaj but Kadaj laughed in reply.

"There's nothing you can do to stop me!" he said.

"Kadaj!" Loz's voice was heard out of nowhere. Kadaj turned to see his eldest brother holding the boy Denzel, who was trying to run away. Kadaj shot his brother a deadly glare and returned to Vincent, who had disappeared.

Kadaj calmed himself down with a swing of his sword on a nearby tree. It was cut clean across the trunk into three pieces. One lay on the floor horizontally, a round piece of wood on the ground and another standing on the ground.

"Here," Vincent helped Cloud with his wound. "GeoStigma," he began. Cloud looked at him, wide eyed. "It happens when you body have overworked itself, purging itself to rid the evil substance that had intruded the body. It is something that resembles the LifeStream in our body that fights off the foreign substance," Vincent finished.

"Do you know who caused it?" Cloud asked, clasping his arm.

"It would only be her," Vincent said, "An abomination like no other, JENOVA."

"What?" Cloud exclaimed.

"She caused all this. Depending on its whim, a second Sephiroth can be created," Vincent said.

"Then, that three men," Cloud began.

"They could be Sephiroth clones," Vincent said.


	10. Lana

Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews I received. I finally posted Chapter 10! Phew...I sorta lost my way in here. This chapter might seem a little off. Critics for this chapter, please? I'll correct them in the next chapter or maybe Ill repost this chapter.

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 10**

"Come to my office," the man on the other side of the phone said.

"Why should I?" Cloud said stubbornly.

"Just come," he said and hung up. Cloud closed his PHS.

"Who was that?" Tifa asked.

"Someone," Cloud answered and turned for the door.

"You are afraid, aren't you?" Tifa asked. Cloud ignored her and walked out of the house. He drove straight into the middle of the city where ShinRa Company's headquarter stood.

"Why did I even listened to that guy?" he mumbled to himself as he walked into the old but still functional building. Tifa and the rest, who had secretly followed Cloud, walked out of their hiding place as Cloud disappeared into the building.

"What's he doing here?" Yuffie asked.

"Come on!" Tifa said and led them into the building.

"We are investigating Sephiroth's influence on this planet after Meteor had fallen," the caped man said, "What do you think we came up with? Nothing."

"Meaning?" Cloud asked dully.

"Sephiroth is dead," he replied.

"I know that," Cloud said, "I killed him."

"Kadaj and his gang are young and fierce. Thus, they are extremely dangerous," he continued.

"Sorry to interrupt your meeting, Mr. President," Reno said casually at the door, "I found some mice." The red-headed man waved his hand and a few of the remaining Turks escorted Tifa, Yuffie, Barret, Cid and Vincent into the room.

"You guys," Cloud said, "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Yuffie said.

"So, everyone is here," the caped man said, "Very well then. Come with us." He whispered something bald black man beside him. He nodded and went behind the caped man to push the wheel chair out of the room. Cloud and his gang followed them down the dusty corridors and reached the end of a corridor where a door stood. A notice was pasted on the door but the words had faded as the notice was exposed to the moisture in the air and the sunlight.

With a nod from the caped man, Reno opened the steel door as wide as he could. Rude, the bald black man, pushed the caped man into the dimly room and motioned the others to follow him. Once they entered the room, they could smell the sweet scent of flowers from a nearby vase of flowers. Beside the table where the vase was put was a glass tank laid in a horizontal position with a long piece of metal set in it as a bed for the patient who rests inside it.

"Why have you called me here, anyway?" Cloud asked the caped man, "All that you have told me just now are information I already know."

"You wanted answers," he said, "I will give you answers. All you have to do is ask."

"Yeah," Yuffie said, "Question number one : Why is that Kadaj so crazy about the Reunion?"

"Love," he said.

"Love?" everyone repeated.

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked.

"There," he answered and pointed to the tank in the middle of the room.

As Cloud drew closer to the tank, he realized that the tank was filled with water and saw that a teenage girl was sleeping in it. She wore a plain white dress that reached down her ankle and had her fingers intertwined on her stomach. A heart confined in a circle was strung as a pendant on a necklace was also rested in her intertwined fingers. Cloud looked at her serene face and the long brown hair that floated around her. As he stared at her face, he felt something stir within him.

'She has an aura around her. Just like Aerith,' Cloud said in his mind.

"Her name is Lana," the caped man said.

"She's beautiful," Tifa said.

"Lana was injured when the Meteor came," he said.

"But that was TWO years ago!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Keep it down, Yuffie!" Barret hit Yuffie's back.

"Yeowch," Yuffie gasped.

"Kadaj and his gang agreed to lend us their strength in return for a cure for Lana," the caped man explained. "Till now, we couldn't find the cure. It seems they have somehow," he continued.

"JENOVA?" Vincent asked.

"It seems so," he answered.

"No, it IS so," a voice from the door startled everyone. Yazoo and Loz walked into the room and gave threatening glares to everyone in the room. Yazoo stopped in front of Lana and gave the caped man a killing glare.

"What do you want here?" Yazoo asked with a commanding voice.

"Answers," Cloud answered.

"What kind of answers?" Loz laughed but Yazoo looked saddened.

"Lana," Yazoo began, "Is Kadaj's sweetheart." Everyone looked at Yazoo. His face seemed to soften now compared to the killer's look that he had showed a moment ago. "Kadaj blamed himself for bringing Lana to Midgar and into this sleep," he continued, "He vowed to himself that he would cure her. It was lucky that the Turks found us and helped Lana. As the President had said, we offered our strength in exchange for the cure."

"But two years has already passed and no cure has been found," Yazoo continued, "We were beginning to lose hope but Kadaj kept on hoping against hope that we will find a cure for Lana. It was then that JENOVA visited Kadaj in his dreams, she told him that she could heal Lana for him if he could bring her back through the Reunion."

"That would explain why he wanted Reunion so badly," Yuffie muttered.

"Kadaj changed the next morning," Yazoo said, "He became more violent."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Cloud asked.

"We know that what Kadaj did was wrong," Yazoo said, "I think Lana will think so too."

"Why do you still follow him?" Tifa asked, angered.

"He is our brother," Yazoo said, "We cannot abandon him."

"He's right," Loz agreed.

"Speaking of Kadaj, where is he?" the caped man asked.

"We don't know," Loz said, "Maybe to the church."

"Why would that clone go to the church?" Cloud asked angrily. Both Yazoo and Loz looked at him angrily as they had been indirectly labeled as clones. "He will only contaminate the church--," Cloud did not finish.

"Cloud!" the caped man interrupted before a fight would erupt, "They are not clones. If they are, so are you!"

"What?" Cloud asked.

"They had Mako energy in them, just like you," the caped man began, "Sephiroth saved their lives by using the Mako energy. Sephiroth had too much Mako energy in him and that was the reason for his appearance. They are also the same. They have been exposed to too much Mako energy and their appearances changed."

"He will be in the forest tonight," Yazoo said to the caped man as he controlled his breathing. Loz walked out of the room without looking at the other people in the room, followed by Yazoo.

"I'll never forgive you!" Cloud shouted as he raced towards the three brothers on his motorcycle. Kadaj, who stood between his two elder brothers smiled wickedly. Both Yazoo and Loz, fired their guns but avoided hitting Cloud on purpose.

'They're not with you anymore,' she said in his mind. Kadaj closed his eyes and listened to her. 'You are alone now,' she continued, 'Your brothers are betraying you.'

Kadaj felt himself leant forward. Before he hit the ground, his eyes sprang open. His left hand grabbed the sword behind him and with his right hand, he pushed himself into the air.

He could hear that the shots were stopped and he smiled as Cloud looked up at him with his broad sword in his hand.

'Lana,' a deep voice called.

'Big Brother?' Lana asked as she floated in the air, 'Let me sleep. I'm so tired.'

'Don't sleep anymore, Lana,' he said. Lana felt arms around her and the warmth of another body beside hers. 'You have been sleeping for a very long time,' he said.

'No,' she murmured, 'I have just fallen asleep.'

'You have been asleep for two years,' he said, 'And much have happened.'

'Two years?' Lana opened her eyes but immediately shut them back as the bright surrounding had hurt her eyes. She felt a warm hand on her face, shielding the light from her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes caught a glimpse of flowing silver hair between the black gloved fingers. She looked up to the man who held her in his arms.

'Don't sleep anymore,' he said, 'We need your help.'

'But I'm so tired,' she replied.

'Do you want to sleep forever?' Sephiroth asked. Lana did not answer him but closed her eyes. 'Don't you want to see him again?' he asked. Lana opened back her eyes in response. 'He's trying to bring you back,' he continued, 'But he went astray.'

'What do you mean?' Lana asked him.

'Look,' Sephiroth said. Lana followed his hand and looked at the endless white room behind her. Lana looked up to her Big Brother, who stared intently ahead. She followed his gaze.

An image of Kadaj came to her mind. He was crying as he held her, who was unconscious after she was wounded in Midgar. She saw him placed her body into the tank. Then, an image of the three brothers came to mind. They were fighting. Next was the image of the trio facing a group of children and Kadaj was talking to them in an angry manner.

'Big Brother, what is all this?' Lana asked.

'Shh, just watch,' he hushed.

Kadaj lingered in her mind and she saw smiling wickedly. It was a smile that she couldn't recognize from him. Green energy was beginning to concentrate in Kadaj's left hand and Lana watched as Bahamut Sin flew down the sky at Kadaj's summon. Lana gasped.

'Kadaj, what are you doing?' she mumbled, 'Why?'

'He's been used,' Sephiroth said, 'By her. Like I once used to be.'

'Kadaj wouldn't hurt people!' Lana said to him, 'You wouldn't hurt people too!'

'I have taken many lives because I was controlled by her,' he said, 'Kadaj kills people because he is controlled by her.' Lana closed her eyes and shook her head violently.

'I don't want to see this anymore,' she said, 'Please make it stop!'

'You must go to him,' Sephiroth said, 'He will bring her back if this goes on.'

'I don't want to see anymore,' Lana begged as she saw Kadaj lowered his sword to a spiky blonde haired man, who lay on the forest ground in defeat. Kadaj said something to the man but Lana could not hear him.

'Kadaj!' she cried out as loud as she could.

'Lana,' Sephiroth began, 'Help us.'

'Kadaj!' Kadaj heard her cried out but he shook it away and turned his attention to Cloud.

"It's time to die, Brother," Kadaj said wickedly.

As Kadaj brought down his sword toCloud's neck, he froze. He suddenly felt a warm hand on his upper left arm. He felt her hand. There was no mistake of it. He felt another hand on the back of his chest and then he felt her leant on his back. Kadaj's sword stopped its action in the middle of the air and left Cloud wondered about the mysterious Kadaj. Slowly, he saw a brown haired teenage girl appeared behind Kadaj. She wore a simple white dress that made the girl seemed to glow.

"Kadaj," her soft voice rang in his ears and he felt her tears fell off her face. Kadaj's sword fell from his hand and lay beside Cloud.

"Lana," Kadaj whispered to the air.

"Lana?" Cloud asked himself as he scrambled to his feet, 'That girl?'

"Please, Kadaj," she begged, "Stop all of this."

"But-," Kadaj protested.

"Kadaj," Lana said, "I don't want to see this anymore. Don't kill others because of me. It doesn't matter how many lives you took to save me, Kadaj, because I will die."

"You won't!" Kadaj exclaimed. Both Yazoo and Loz looked anxiously at Kadaj. The entire Avalanche, who came to help Cloud looked at Kadaj and wondered if JENOVA had taken control of him.

"Mother," Kadaj gasped, "She said once we have the Reunion, she will have all her powers back. And then she would cure you! She said that to me! She wouldn't lie!"

"No," Lana said softly. "She didn't lie. She would cure me but then she would kill me later," she continued.

"No, she won't," Kadaj said, "You are a part of us. She will not kill you."

"She kills Cetra," Lana said, "No matter who they are."

"Cetra?" Kadaj questioned, "You can't be a Cetra."

"I'm sorry," Lana said.

"You can't be," Kadaj said softly.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. Lana slowly loosened her grip on Kadaj and stepped back. Before she could take another step away from him, Kadaj had turned and gathered her in his arms.

"Don't," he begged, "Don't leave me."

Lana gave him a reassuring pat on his back and said, "I can't leave and I can't stay."

"I just want to hold you, for a moment longer," he whispered as he buried his face into her hair. Lana wrapped her arms around Kadaj and rested her head on his shoulder. The others looked on at Kadaj and Lana with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Kadaj, I have already decided," Lana said as she tried to break the silence between them. She released Kadaj and tried to break their embrace but Kadaj held onto her tightly.

"I'm not letting you go," Kadaj said, "I can hear you. Just say what you want to say." Kadaj tightened his embrace. Lana smiled.

"I will fight, Kadaj," she said, "I want to see you again."

"But there is no cure," Kadaj said.

"I have no cure but I believed that your gift will help me," Lana smiled.

"But I have given you nothing," Kadaj said as he pulled himself away from her. He looked into her brown orbs and saw hope shining in her eyes.

"I will fight for myself for once," Lana repeated, "Kadaj too must fight for himself."

"You must defeat her," Lana said, "She's the real enemy. She controlled Big Brother two years ago and now she's trying to control you."

"But Mother said that she did this to take everyone to the Promised Land," Kadaj said.

"The Promised Land is right here," Lana took his hand and placed it on his heart, "It's where everything that you treasure lives."

Kadaj stared at her. Lana smiled at him. "Lana," Kadaj whispered when he saw that Eternal Love was hung around her neck.

"Hmm?" Lana looked up at him.

"When everything's over," Kadaj whispered as he held her to him again. "We'll be together, forever," he whispered so softly that only Lana could hear him.

"I'll be waiting for you," she whispered back.


	11. JENOVA

Jesterqueen…You are missing a BIG event in the FF world! Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children is the part 2 of Final Fantasy 7! Check the Internet for more information.

CatAlex…Don't worry about the comment you gave me. It's my fault too, for not giving enough details. Thanks for the comment.

Thank you everyone for the reviews! And I'm about the story jumping from one place to another...I put the stars there but it seems the Document Manager in doesn't recognize it or something... TT

Things are gonna be weird in this chapter...hope you guys can follow the story! Thanks for the reviews again!

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 11**

"Mr. President!" a female scientist in a white lab coat ran into the caped man's office, "Lana, she is fighting off the Mako energy with much more energy now!"

"What?" he exclaimed, "Do whatever it is that you can to save her!"

"Yes sir!" she answered and ran back to Lana's control room.

"Lana is finally awakening," the caped man said, "I hope she will be able to survive this."

"Lana," Kadaj whispered into the air as Lana disappeared from his embrace, "We'll see each other again soon." He picked up his fallen sword without looking at Cloud, who was staring at him. Kadaj ignored the stare and walked away from him.

"Kadaj," Cloud called. Kadaj stopped in his tracks. "Why do you fight?" Cloud asked him.

"To protect the ones I love," was his reply.

"What about JENOVA?" Cloud questioned him.

"I don't want to answer you on that," Kadaj said and walked out of Cloud's sight.

"Why can't you let me see Lana?" Kadaj shouted at the guards who were stationed in front of Lana's room.

"She's currently unstable, Master Kadaj," one of them answered.

"What do you mean?" Kadaj grabbed him by the collar.

"Kadaj, calm down," Loz said to his brother.

"She rejecting the Mako-" the other guard did not finish as the sound of a large piece of glass breaking interrupted him. Kadaj shoved the two guards out of his way and opened the steel door.

What he saw in the room was not pleasing in his eyes. The female scientist who was put in charge to watch over Lana was holding Lana possessively on the floor. The glass tank where Lana was laid was opened and the power was cut off to the tank.

"You will not take Lana!" she said, "She needs the Mako to survive!"

"Anna!" Kadaj shouted, "I should have seen it earlier. Lana has been rejecting the Mako from the beginning! She needs rest, not the Mako energy!"

"You're wrong! The only reason she's alive now is because of the Mako energy!" Anna shouted back and tightened her grip on Lana.

"Give Lana to me!" Kadaj said as he unsheathed his sword.

"Come and get her!" she said as she threw a flash bomb in front of Kadaj. When Kadaj and his brothers had recovered from the flash effect, Anna and Lana was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did they go?" Loz asked out loud. Yazoo gave him an icy stare and motioned for him to be quiet. Kadaj lowered his sword and clenched his fist in anger. With a swing of his sword, the equipments used to monitor Lana were destroyed. The sound of the equipments exploding brought the caped man down to the room.

"What happened in here?" the caped man asked.

"Anna escaped with Lana," Loz informed him. When he turned his gaze back to Kadaj, Loz was shocked to see Kadaj sobbing on the floor.

"She would not do such a thing!" the caped man exclaimed.

"She did, we saw it," Yazoo said.

"Sir," a soldier came running into the room, "We found Anna dead in the elevator."

"What?" the caped man gasped. Kadaj stood up and an explanation dawned in his mind. He looked at his brothers in horror.

"It's her," he mumbled before he dashed out of the room,

"But how? Reunion is not complete yet!" Loz exclaimed as they ran down the building to their motorcycles. Kadaj did not reply but ran ahead of them.

Yazoo and Loz followed their youngest brother who rode ahead of them. They could sense that Kadaj was anxious to get back to the old abandoned lab at the edge of the city as they knew she would definitely bring Lana there.

The grey road was empty and silent as Kadaj and his brothers approached the abandoned building. The laboratory was abandoned after the Meteor had hit the city and killed the researchers who were out in the city. No one maintains the lab now but the equipments were still running from the constant generation of electricity by its own built-in generator.

Kadaj opened the door to the dark building and stepped in, followed by his brothers. Once they had entered the empty room, the door closed by itself and the lights were switched on suddenly. The room was empty and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust. As Kadaj and the others looked on, they saw a feminine figure standing in the middle of the room, with her back towards them.

She wore a long white dress that complemented the colour of her silver hair. As she turned to face the trio, they saw that she was much paler than they and her eyes were different than theirs. It was white and they knew instantly who they were facing but Kadaj did not seem to be surprised.

"Mother," Loz said under his breath and gripped his weapon. Yazoo too took out his gunblade and got ready to fight.

"My sons," her voice said, "We are finally reunited."

"Return Lana to me!" Kadaj shouted across the room.

"Son, that girl is trouble to us," she said calmly, "You do remember the Promised Land, don't you?"

"I do," Kadaj said, "It does not exist!"

"You listened to the girl's rambles," she said in an angry tone, "Why!"

"I trust her more than you," Kadaj replied.

"She'll die," she laughed, "GeoStigma will eat into her."

"I'll save her!" Kadaj said as he unsheathed his sword and charged towards the woman.

"Do you think they are alright?" Tifa asked.

"I don't care," Cloud replied coldly.

"If Kadaj's assumption is true," the caped man said, "It could mean trouble."

"Assumption?" Yuffie asked.

"That JENOVA is already back but is still regaining her powers," Vincent answered Yuffie and the rest.

"But how?" Tifa asked.

"GeoStigma is the new way to revive her," Vincent began, "When the virus infects a person, JENOVA will be able to draw out their lives and live. But it'll take time before she can take a physical form."

"If it infects a Cetra, JENOVA will be able to regain her full power by only drawing her life," Vincent continued.

"You knew?" the caped man looked at him, "Yet you didn't say anything until now?"

"No one asked me about it," Vincent replied.

"But you could have said it all by yourself!" Yuffie said.

"We must stop JENOVA," Cloud said. "It doesn't mean that I'm helping them,"Cloud said quickly when he saw Tifa's eyes lit up. He did not know why Tifa cared so much about them after the caped man told them about Lana.

"You can't beat me, my sons," JENOVA taunted as her barrier disappeared. The trio was panting heavily while their enemy was still as calm and collected as before the battle had begun.

"I won't give up," Kadaj said, gripping his sword tightly, "I'll never give up!" Kadaj charged towards JENOVA with his sword in his left hand. As he turned to slash at the woman in white, her left hand was brought up and a shield surrounded her again. Kadaj's attack became useless against her as long as she has the barrier and their strengths were spent from destroying the barrier over and over again.

As they tried to regain their breaths, the Avalanche had arrived outside the building. They were surprised to see JENOVA when they entered the building and shocked when they saw that the three brothers trying to regain their strengths.

"Are you all alright?" Tifa rushed to them. Loz grunted as he sat on the floor. Yazoo nodded as he held on to the wall for support. Kadaj was kneeling on one knee and used his sword to stabilize himself in front of JENOVA.

"You called for their aid?" JENOVA asked.

"We come on our own!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"We'll vanquish you from this planet!" Cloud shouted as he charged at the woman. With a swing of his sword, the barrier broke and JENOVA stumbled back from the impact. "Attack her now!" Yazoo told them. At once, all the members of the Avalanche attacked her from all sides. Loz nodded to Yazoo and Yazoo walked over to Kadaj.

"Find Lana!" Tifa told Kadaj, "We'll take care of JENOVA here."

"Don't order me around!" Kadaj told her.

"Come, Kadaj!" Yazoo pulled Kadaj to his feet and led him away from the battle into a dark corridor, "Loz will be with them, don't worry."

"Yazoo," Kadaj called his brother's name as it was the first time Yazoo took his rightful role as an older brother after they had started on their journey to cure Lana.

Meanwhile, Cloud and his companions struck violently at JENOVA. They did not give her any chance to strike back but cast barriers around herself. As the battle continued, JENOVA's magic became weaker with every barrier that she cast.

"She's getting weaker," Vincent said, "We must double up our attacks and finish her off."

'I must retreat,' JENOVA thought in horror, 'Or I'll be doomed.'

"You won't get away from this," JENOVA said, fear was in her voice, "I shall be back and you will not be able to defeat me when I do come back." A blinding flash of light appeared from her palms and she disappeared when the light had faded away.

"She got away!" Cloud exclaimed angrily, "And we were so close!"

"I can't sense her," Loz said, "She's too weak. She won't be back anytime soon." Loz sat down on the floor and clutched his left arm.

"Are you alright?" Tifa asked Loz as she crouched beside him. Loz only nodded without looking at her.


	12. A Helping Hand

Hiya! This is the next chapter. Enjoy and thanks for the reviews! **  
**

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 12**

"Lana!" Kadaj called as he entered the cold room. He gasped when he saw Lana suspended in the glass tank and surrounded by intensified Mako liquid.

"Kadaj, break the glass!" Yazoo said as he rushed to the main control of the tank. He quickly deactivated the machine and detached the tubes from Lana's body while Kadaj used his Souba to slice the glass apart.

Lana was detached as the glass in front of her broke apart and she followed the flow of the Mako liquid out of the tank. Kadaj caught Lana in his arms as she tumbled out of the tank and immediately wrapped a dry blanket, which he found in a cabinet, around her before he carried her out of the cold room. Once outside, Kadaj knelt on the ground and gently laid Lana on the ground.

"Lana," Kadaj called softly as he gently shook her, "Can you hear me?"

"_Kadaj," _Lana said but no sound was heard from her as her body was still unconscious, _"Kadaj, I want to see you." _Lana felt herself being drawn close to a warm body and she felt a warm hand on her face, brushing away the cold liquid from her. _"I want to see him. I want to call him. I want to…touch him," _she begged her own body, _"Just once, please."_

Kadaj cradled Lana close to him and touched her cold and wet face with his ungloved hand. As he held her hand in his, he felt her fingers moved a little. His eyes went wide when he heard a soft sigh. Kadaj looked at Lana's face and saw that she was struggling to open her eyes.

The world was a blur to her when she opened her eyes. It was a mess of black and silver and of other colours. But there was pair of twinkling green light that caught her eyes. Before she knew it, she was already gazing into Kadaj's eyes.

"Kadaj," she managed to say with a smile as she raised her weakening hand to his cheek. It was as warm as she remembered except the cold liquid that still cling to her hand had limited the warmth she received from him.

"Lana," Kadaj called back with a smile and held her closer to him. Lana lay weakly in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder.

"I love you," Lana whispered softly into his ears. Kadaj released her from his tight embrace and looked at Lana.

"Lana, is something wrong?" he ask when he saw that Lana was slowly closing her eyes. "I love you," he whispered to her and placed another kiss on her forehead, "Don't sleep forever, promise me that." With one last effort, Lana gave Kadaj's hand a gentle squeeze and a smile.

"We'll be at the place where you wanted to go when you wake up. We'll be there. I promised you, didn't I?" Kadaj reminded her.

"Is she alright?" Tifa asked. Kadaj ignored her and carried Lana out of the building.

"Hey, the least you could do is answer Tifa!" Yuffie said but Kadaj kept walking away from the crowd.

"Kadaj!" Tifa stood in front of him, "Lana will catch a cold if you leave her like that." Kadaj stood uncertainly and looked at the sleeping Lana. Her whole body was soaked with the Mako liquid and the blanket was not thick enough to break the cold and dry wind that was blowing towards them.

Kadaj felt a hand on his shoulder as he looked at Lana. "Kadaj," he heard Yazoo said, "Let them take care of Lana for a while."

"There are things only we girls can do for girls," Tifa said with a warm smile, "I'll just dry her up and put some fresh clothes on her. I won't do anything else to her, you have my word."

xxxxx

"The place is small, but do make yourselves comfortable," Tifa said as they walked into the orphanage. All of the children hid themselves in their rooms when they saw the three brothers except one, Marlene. She stood in the middle of the shabby living room, where the children used to play together.

"Welcome home," Marlene exclaimed when she saw Tifa and the others walked through the door. She realized that a few of the members were missing but she hid her curiosity. She smiled at her father, Tifa, Yuffie and the other guest but she looked concerned when she saw Kadaj carrying a girl in his arms.

"Come along now, Marlene," Barrett said as he took her small hand in his and led her into the room where the other children were hiding.

"Come with me," Tifa said to Kadaj, who was still carrying Lana. Tifa led Kadaj up the stairs and opened the door to an empty room. "Lay her here," Tifa said as she laid some blanket on the bed. Kadaj gently laid Lana on the bed.

"There's another empty room right beside this room on the right," Tifa said, "Will you stay with us?" Kadaj did not answer her. "For a while? At least until Lana gets better?" Tifa asked.

"Kadaj," Yazoo's voice was heard from the door. Both Kadaj and Tifa turned to look at the long silver haired man. Loz too was there, he stood beside Yazoo quietly.

"Why don't you stay here while we both go back to our place?" he asked, "I need to fix our eldest brother's arm here."

"Why don't you all stay here? I mean…stay to get your wounds healed," Tifa said.

"No," Loz said, "The children are frightened to see us."

"Kadaj needs to stay here because Lana's here," Yazoo continued, "We can take care of ourselves."

"But," Kadaj began to feel powerless and he did not know what he should be doing. For the second time of the day, he felt useless.

"You are not useless, Kadaj," Yazoo said as if he was reading Kadaj's mind, "You have to protect Lana. That's what you promised yourself, isn't it?" Kadaj nodded to his brothers but he hung his head as he knew that he would be separated from his brothers for a while.

"Stay here and be good, ya?" Loz said. Kadaj looked up at his eldest brother with a scowl. Yazoo tried his best to hide his laugh but Loz burst out laughing at the angry looking yet harmless Kadaj.

"I'm not a kid anymore," Kadaj said. It was the first time for Tifa to see the three brothers behave like brothers and she was utterly surprised that the evil men whom the city feared were just ordinary brothers. She smiled along with them.

"Well, um, gentlemen," Tifa began, "If you don't mind, it's girls' work here."

"I'm here!" Yuffie exclaimed behind Yazoo and Loz. "Excuuuuse me!" she said as she pushed her way into the room between Yazoo and Loz. "Right! Girls' thing! So out with you!" Yuffie told Kadaj and pushed him out of the room and slammed the door on the three brothers' face.

"Yuffie, don't be so rude!" they heard Tifa told Yuffie, "You'll never change, will you?"

"Nope," Yuffie answered her, "Let's get her done!"

xxxxx

"They have left already?" Tifa asked Kadaj, who sat alone in the living room.

"Yeah," Kadaj answered her.

"Do you need something to drink or eat?" Tifa asked him.

"I need to sleep," Kadaj replied her with a tired sigh.

"The room's ready for use, you know," Tifa reminded him of the room beside Lana's.

"What about the children?" Kadaj asked.

"They have their own rooms," Tifa informed him, "Go get some sleep. I'll prepare some food when you are awake."

"Thank you," Kadaj said as walked to the flight of stairs.

"You know," Tifa began, Kadaj stopped in his tracks. "You are not that bad after all," she continued. Kadaj turned to face her. "I used to hate you for capturing the children but after knowing the reason behind everything, I begin to understand your struggle," Tifa finished.

"Even so, you don't know why we wanted that little girl so much," Kadaj said.

"Marlene? Isn't it because she is a child too?" Tifa asked. Kadaj shook his head.

"Countless children and victims of GeoStigma could only replace one Cetra," Kadaj began, "Marlene is half Cetra, we only know that much. So, the numbers of victims needed to revive JENOVA would be lessened by half."

"How did you know that?" Tifa asked.

"I could sense their powers," Kadaj answered, "JENOVA gave this ability to me."

"Why didn't you know that Lana is a Cetra?" Tifa asked.

"I refused to sense her power," Kadaj said, his head began to hung a little.

"Well, um, sorry to keep you here," Tifa said to him, "Get some rest."

"How's Lana?" Kadaj asked.

"She's still sleeping," Tifa told him, "You can go into her room if you want but you must get some sleep." Kadaj nodded to her. "We don't have many clothes but we managed dig out a blue dress that once belonged to Aerith when she was younger," Tifa said, "And a pair of sandal too."

"Thank you," Kadaj managed to say before he headed up the stairs.

xxxxx

"Marlene, have you seen the sister and the brother?" Tifa asked Marlene who stood behind the corner of the corridor in her pajama. She nodded and walked up to Tifa.

"Where did the brother take the sister?" Tifa asked.

"Big Brother said he wanna take Big Sister to the beach," Marlene said.

"How did the Big Brother look like?" Tifa asked her.

"Big Brother smiled at me when he said that to me," Marlene replied.

"Alright," Tifa smiled as she put a hand on Marlene's head, "Go back to sleep." Marlene obeyed and walked back to her room. "At least he did take a blanket with him. And be back for those gloves," Tifa sighed as she looked at the gloves on the table and then at the clock beside them in the room. It showed 2:14 am.

xxxxx

"We're here, Lana," Kadaj said to Lana who lay asleep in his arms. He carried Lana to the beach where Lana had her first premonition. Nothing had changed on this beach. It was still as breathtaking as ever and it was Lana's favourite place yet also her dreaded place to be alone.

"But I'm here," Kadaj sat down with Lana, whom he had wrapped the grey blanket around, on his lap, "You'll not be alone." He held Lana's body close to him and lightly kissed her forehead. With his ungloved hand, he touched Lana's warm cheek and held her head closed to his heart.

"I miss you, Lana," Kadaj said as he lowered his cheek to meet hers. "Please, wake up," he begged her, "I can't stand seeing you asleep anymore."

Lana made no sign of waking up even though a tear slipped from Kadaj onto her face. Kadaj wiped the tear away and forced a smiled.

"It's alright," Kadaj said, more of consoling himself than Lana, "You promised me that you'd wake up. I'll just have to wait for you."

Kadaj sat on the beach holding Lana close to him. He closed his eyes and rocked Lana back and forth as he hummed a song. It was a song Lana used to sing when she was alone. He had always hid himself behind a rock to hear her sing because she would be embarrassed when someone heard her singings.

Kadaj did not know how long he had sat on the beach humming the same song over and over again. He would occasionally cast glances towards Lana for any sign of her being awake. He would even tighten the blanket around Lana to keep her warm and even covered her sandaled feet with the blanket. Seeing none, he returned his gaze back to the sea.

"Can you hear it, Lana?" Kadaj asked as he gazed at the endless sea, "It's the song of the sea that we used to listen together. It's still singing the same song as we remembered."

"How could I forget that song?" a soft voice said. Kadaj looked down at Lana, who smiled weakly at him.

"Lana!" Kadaj exclaimed happily, "When were you awake?"

"How can I sleep when you keep talking to me and the road here was as bumpy as ever!" Lana said with more energy in her. Kadaj smiled at the lie Lana told him. He had used the new highway that was built years after they had left the village and the highway ran smooth.

"If talking and bumpy roads will keep you awake," Kadaj began as he smiled at her, "Then I'll talk to keep you awake." He rested his forehead on Lana's. "I'm glad you are awake," he sighed. Lana smiled in reply.

"I'm really glad," Kadaj repeated with a smile.


	13. A Beautiful Sunrise

Sorry about the late update! Thanks for the reviews! And you can kill me after you read this chapter XP

I think it'll be another chapter till the end of this fic. Till then, stay with me. The ending isn't as bad as you think though ;)

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 13**

"Kadaj," Lana began as she got up on her elbows. The question she had in her mind vanished when she saw a glistening silver shell beside Kadaj.

"Hm?" Kadaj asked with his eyes closed.

"Don't move," Lana said as she got up on her knees.

"Wha-?" Kadaj opened his eyes to see Lana's arm reached over him towards the shell that lay beside his head. He saw Lana smiling happily that he couldn't resist smiling back. His hand reached up behind her neck without thinking and he pulled himself up with his other hand.

Kadaj met her pink lips with his. At that moment, Kadaj was able to finally feel happiness flowing through him. Yet, as he deepened the kiss, he felt sorrow slowly seeping into his heart. He circled his arms around Lana and pulled her with him as he lie back on the sand, not wanting to let Lana go. Kadaj had known long ago that in his heart he will never let her go.

"I love you," Lana heard Kadaj whispered to her. She slowly opened her eyes to look into Kadaj's glistening eyes. Lana became worried when she saw the sorrow in his eyes.

"I want to hear your voice. I want to look into your eyes," he continued as he looked deep into her eyes. "More than anything I just want to hold you, Lana," he said as he tightened his arms around Lana. She rested her head on Kadaj's chest with a worried look on her face.

"Kadaj, what's wrong?" Lana asked.

"I don't want to lose you again," Kadaj said, "I've never wanted to lose you."

"It has been painful to see you in the lab," he said, "I have always loved your smile but I couldn't see your smile for two years. I couldn't hear your voice and I began to forget how soft your eyes are. I can't bear seeing the same lifeless expression on you day after day."

A hand reached up to Kadaj's face and brushed away the tear that rolled down his face. "It's alright," Lana said, "I'm here. I won't leave you. I'll be by your side."

"Thank you," Kadaj kissed the top of her head and sighed contently. "Hey, Lana, will you sing for me?" he asked. Lana nodded and began to sing the same song that he had hummed. Kadaj smiled as he listened to Lana's angelic voice but he soon fell asleep listening to her. Lana did not stop singing even though she knew that Kadaj was already asleep. Silently, a tear rolled down her face.

'I don't want to leave you either, Kadaj,' she said in her mind, 'I'm so sorry.'

XXXXX

"Lana?" Kadaj called as he awoke from his sleep. When he didn't feel her head on his chest and he immediately sat up. As he looked around frantically and threw away the blanket that was placed on him, he saw footprints leading away from him towards the forest. Kadaj jumped up and followed the footprints.

Once he entered sandy forest, he saw Lana standing at the place they once slept the night after the raid. Lana stood as still as a statue in the blue dress that fitted her perfectly. Her slender arms hung beside her and her eyes were fixed on the sandy ground.

"Lana," he called as he pulled Lana into an embrace. Lana, who was reminiscing about the past was caught off guard and was surprised when Kadaj held her tightly to him.

"Kadaj?" Lana said in surprise.

"I thought everything was just a dream," Kadaj said, "I thought you were still…"

"Kadaj," Lana interrupted him as she comforted him by circling her arms around his neck. "I realized something," she tried to change the subject.

"What is it?" Kadaj asked, his mood lightened a little.

"You've grown taller," Lana answered. Kadaj laughed. "I'm serious!" Lana continued.

"Of course I have grown taller!" Kadaj said, still laughing.

"We used to be of the same height," Lana said, "Now I'm shorter than you."

"As for me, it is easier to find a place to rest my chin now," Kadaj said as he put his chin on Lana's head. She giggled. "And you have grown more beautiful," he whispered in her ears. Lana stopped giggling and blushed.

"Come on," Kadaj released Lana from his embrace and took her hand. He smiled as he led her back to the beach, to witness the first ray of sunlight rising from the horizon. When he turned back to look at Lana, he saw that she was blushing a deep red colour.

"Are you blushing?" Kadaj asked.

"B-blushing?" Lana stuttered, "No, I'm not!" she denied.

"Then, what is this colour on your face?" Kadaj asked as he touched her cheeks.

"I-It's…um…," Lana muttered and avoided his eyes. "The sun! Yes! The sunlight is-" Lana stopped as Kadaj put a finger on her lips.

"I've noticed that you always blush when I held your hand," Kadaj said as he caressed her cheek, "Why?"

"I'm not blushing now and I didn't blush when you held my hand in Midgar!" Lana insisted. Kadaj smiled. Lana covered her mouth with her other hand and looked away in embarrassment.

"Well…" Lana began to explain but Kadaj laughed. "What's so funny?" Lana pouted.

"There's no need to explain," he said. as he embraced Lana again. "I love you," Kadaj said, "I don't want to lose you."

"Kadaj, you said that many times," Lana said.

"Then I'll know that you will remember it," Kadaj said. Lana nodded but tears blinded her eyes as she realized that she was getting weaker by each passing hour. She thanked the flaming red sun that rose in front of her to colour her pale skin.

"I found you," a hoarse voice interrupted the couple who sat cuddled up together by the shore. Lana gasped when she heard the voice. Kadaj looked up at the sea and tightened his arms around Lana when he saw JENOVA stood on the water in front of them.

"Kadaj, give me the girl and let me live," she said. Kadaj stood up and held Lana's hand.

"I'll never give her to you," Kadaj shouted and threw the concentrated energy that he had prepared at JENOVA. JENOVA screamed in pain at the attack and was momentarily dazed. "Lana, lets go," Kadaj pulled Lana along with him and broke into a run towards his motorcycle. Before they could reach it, it was blown up and they heard JENOVA laughing triumphantly.

"There's nowhere to run. Give me the girl and I'll let you live as well," they heard her said. Kadaj could feel Lana's gaze turning from him to her. He gave her hand a squeeze and shook his head.

"You have to live," Lana said.

"No," Kadaj protested, "I'm not going to lose you again. You said you'll be by my side. Don't turn back on your words."

"You can't run and you know well that you can't defeat me alone," JENOVA taunted.

"I'm not alone," Kadaj said, "Lana's with me." Lana nodded at him.

"I'll do my best," she said as Kadaj unsheathed his sword.

XXXXX

"Where's Kadaj?" Yazoo asked Tifa when he entered the cozy house.

"Marlene said he brought Lana to the beach," Tifa answered, "I don't know where it is though."

"They went home," Loz said.

"Home?" Tifa asked but the two men did not answer her. Both Yazoo and Loz looked dazed as if they felt something reaching into their minds.

"Oh no," Yazoo said as he dashed out of the house. Loz immediately followed him but Tifa stopped him.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"JENOVA is back," Loz said, "She's at the beach north of here."

XXXXX

"It's futile, boy," JENOVA laughed.

"That's what you think," Kadaj replied as he slashed at her but hit her barrier instead.

"Protection!" Lana cast a blue barrier around Kadaj before JENOVA could hit him. Kadaj knew this fight will not turn out well but he had decided not to give up trying even though his chances of winning the battle were slim.

'I will not lose Lana again,' the thought of Lana alone lifted his spirits higher and he fought against JENOVA once again. He tried to maneuver his sword nearer to her but he failed every time he had the chance.

'Physical and magical attacks does her nothing,' Lana looked on helplessly as Kadaj began to get exhausted but JENOVA seemed unaffected by their attacks. 'And I don't have a spell to break that barrier!' Lana's mind screamed in frustration.

"Lana,"Lana remembered Sephiroth said to her, "Help us."

'Is that the only way?' she asked herself. Kadaj charged once again at JENOVA with the intention of breaking her barrier but with a wave of her hand, she threw Kadaj back onto the ground near Lana. 'It is the only way,' Lana said to herself.

"You forget what power I have," JENOVA said as she raised her hand. Kadaj stood gasping for breath in front of Lana. Green energy began to gather around her hand and a wicked smile came across her face.

"Barrier!" Lana moved beside Kadaj and blocked the coming attack with a spell that summoned a pink dome to surround them.

"Lana," Kadaj said softly.

"This is all I could do," Lana smiled, "I have figured out a way to defeat her."

"Lana!" Kadaj's eyes widened as he saw Lana's body began to glow in a light pink hue.

"I'm sorry," she said as the aura around her intensified.

"You know the consequence of unleashing that power with that weak body of yours, don't you?" JENOVA's proud voice faltered when she saw the power Lana tried to gather to herself.

"Lana, no," Kadaj said as he tried to embrace her to stop the flowing energy. But the aura had prevented him to touching her.

"I'm sorry," Lana repeated as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"I won't let you linger on this planet any longer!" Lana said to the frightened JENOVA. As Lana pushed all the energy she had gathered towards JENOVA, she felt as if she had pushed her own soul out of her body as well.

Waves of pink light flew around her body towards JENOVA who tried to escape the light. She lifted herself up and flew away but the light had drifted on the sky swifter than she. They circled around JENOVA and blocked all of her escape routes.

"Lana!" Kadaj caught Lana as she fell forward, "Lana!"

Lana opened her eyes to see JENOVA, trapped in a luminescent ball of pink hue, unable to escape. With every last ounce of strength left in her, she pulled herself up on her feet.

'I'm too weak for this,' Lana realized as she gathered energy to her once again, 'But I can't leave it as it is. I must finish it even if it costs me my life.'

"Lana! NO!" Kadaj embraced her from behind causing the energy to fade away.

"Kadaj," Lana said softly, "I'm sorry."

"I hate that word, Lana," Kadaj's voice faltered.

"I'm s-" Lana wanted to repeat herself but she was cut off by Kadaj tightening his embrace around her shoulders.

"I don't want to hear that word ever again," he said. Lana touched Kadaj's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Lana whispered as a tear fell off her cheek. She knew she would break his heart by leaving but she was left with no other choice. Lana heard Kadaj drew in a ragged breath and felt a tear dropped onto her bare shoulder.

"No more, please?" Kadaj pleaded.

"There's no other choice," Lana answered.

"Everyone will be here soon," Kadaj said, more of convincing himself than the girl he held.

"If you kill me," JENOVA shouted, "You'll die as well."

"That's not true," Kadaj said unbelievably, "Tell me it's not true, Lana!"

"Her power," Lana began, "Is from me. She's draining my energy. And to unleash my Cetra powers too will drain my own energy."

"Then, don't do it anymore," Kadaj said.

"I have to do this," Lana said as she tried to remove Kadaj's hands, "I'm the last of the pure blood. I'll be able to defeat her."

"I'm not letting go," Kadaj tightened his gentle embrace and rested his head at the back of her neck. Lana released her hold on his hand and clasped them in front of her.

"I'll still have to do it," Lana said with a sigh. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she gathered her remaining energy into her hands. Before Kadaj could do anything to stop her, Lana had already hurled the energy she had gathered towards the trapped JENOVA.

"Fool!" JENOVA shouted before she was hit by the last ounce of energy by Lana. A long screeching scream echoed throughout the whole bay as JENOVA curled herself up in pain. Seconds later, she saw that her own body is slowly fading into the air as the barrier which the last Cetra had cast around her began to disappear. There was no splash of water as she fell into the sea as she became weightless and translucent.

"No," she said in a hoarse voice, "This can't be. How could you, with half of your life drained, still defeat me?" Slowly, more of her body was fading away until she was completely gone.

Lana watched with dazed eyes as her enemy faded away into nothingness. Unconsciously, tears blinded her eyes as she tried to grasp Kadaj's hand. Kadaj was so shocked beyond words when he saw JENOVA fading away that he did not realize Lana frantically held his hand with tears streaming down her cheeks.

'I don't want this,' Kadaj's mind said, 'If JENOVA's gone, Lana…' Tear blinded his sight as the thought of losing Lana again flooded into his mind.

"I'm sorry," Lana said before her legs gave away. Kadaj still had his arms around her as she sat on the sand while he knelt down beside her. He gently caressed her head as she nuzzled comfortably into his chest.

"Don't leave me," he begged as he intertwined his fingers with Lana's.

"I'm sorry," Lana said softly as her eyes began to close, "I'm really sorry."

"Don't say that-" Kadaj did not finish. His eyes widened when Lana's fingers slipped between his and her hand lay limply on the sand.

"Lana?" he called but there was no answer. He looked down and saw Lana smiling with her eyes closed on his chest.


	14. Self Sacrifice

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 14**

"I don't want this," Kadaj's tears blinded him as he held the brown haired girl in his arms. "I have never wanted this," he said as he intertwined his fingers with Lana's.

_"Will you give up your own life for her?" _A voice asked him. Kadaj nodded without a second though but he was too distracted with Lana that he did not realize that the owner of the voice was Sephiroth.

"I'd do anything," Kadaj said as a tear rolled down his face.

_"Then give her your life," _he said. Kadaj, who was looking at Lana's peaceful face, turned his attention to their intertwined finger. They were glowing as ribbons of blue circled their fingers. Kadaj felt warmth spreading from his finger to his whole body as he lowered his face until his lips was above hers.

"I'd give up anything to give you back the life you should have," Kadaj whispered to Lana before he gave her a kiss of life. The blue ribbons circling their fingers began to circle up Kadaj's arm and intensified around his chest before it moved up to his face to flow into Lana.

_"Kadaj, no," _Kadaj heard Lana's faint plea in his mind as she drew in a breath, _"You'll die."_

"I'm not going to let you die," Kadaj said after he broke the kiss, "I promised you."

_"No," _Lana repeated as the blue light began to soften and fade away.

"Sorry, Lana," Kadaj smiled faintly, "I've always loved you."

_"Kadaj!" _he heard Lana screamed in his mind as he closed his eyes and laid himself beside her. He knew the consequences of his doing and he was willing to accept his death in exchange for Lana's life. Kadaj gently kissed her forehead as Lana drew shallow breaths in his arms. He smiled knowing that she will live and tightened his hold on her one last time before he gave himself into unconsciousness.

XXXXX

Yazoo, Loz and the others arrived at the beach in time to watch the blue life energy flowing from one black suited figure to another figure in a distance. They instantly recognized Kadaj as the one in black and that he was holding Lana in his arms but they did not know what was happening to them.

"What's happening?" Loz muttered under his breath but Yazoo only stared at the two figures. When the light had faded, Yazoo saw that Kadaj had lain down beside Lana.

"I can't feel her," Yazoo said, referring to JENOVA. Tifa walked up beside him.

"Who?" she asked.

"They defeated JENOVA all by themselves," Yazoo muttered as he continued staring at Kadaj and Lana.

"That's impossible!" Cloud said, "We couldn't defeat her the last time!"

"Perhaps the Cetra defeated her," Vincent said calmly.

"Something had happened," Yazoo said as he ran towards Kadaj. He was shocked to find that both Kadaj and Lana were drawing shallow breathes with their fingers locked in each others. Both of them looked pale and Yazoo became worried. Loz knelt beside them and tried to separate them.

_"Don't!"_ a voice in his mind stopped him.

"Big Brother?" Yazoo whispered.

_"Don't separate them just yet," _Sephiroth said, _"Kadaj gave Lana half of his life. They will not survive without the other half till they have fully recovered."_

"What do we do?" Loz asked.

_"Get them to a safe place and let them rest," _he answered, _"Their remaining life energy will replenish after a certain period of time."_

"I don't understand," Yazoo said.

_"You can survive with half of your life energy drawn but you will never recover," _Sephiroth said, _"A body will need more than half of its life energy to heal any wound or to replenish itself. Kadaj's life energy is flowing from him to Lana and back to him again, which meant that both will have more and then less than half of the life energy repeatedly."_

_"They will recover the other half of the life energy in time," _Sephiroth finished.

XXXXX

'Am I still alive?' Kadaj asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the bare and grey ceiling for a moment before he tried to move his fingers. He felt something warm resting in his right hand. He turned his head to his right and smiled warmly when he saw Lana asleep beside him.

'She's breathing,' Kadaj thought happily. The door creaked open and a familiar figure entered the room.

"You're awake?" Tifa asked, "How do you feel?"

"Glad that she's still alive," Kadaj said as he sat up without releasing Lana's hand.

"I'll go get you something to eat," Tifa said. "By the way, you two have been out for three days already," she continued and walked out of the room.

_"You can let go of her hand now, Kadaj," _Sephiroth said, _"Your life energy no longer flow into Lana anymore and she's replenishing the remaining life energy on her own."_

"Big Brother?" Kadaj said softly but he received no reply from the voice in his mind.

'I don't want to let her go,' Kadaj said in his mind.

XXXXX

Kadaj was reluctant to leave Lana's side at first but both Yazoo and Loz was able to persuade him into changing his clothes and have some fresh air outside the house. He had been quiet ever since he awoke and was seldom seen alone. He was always beside Lana, watched her drew in every shallow breaths and watched her stir every now and then. At times, he would stand outside the house alone and stared at the barren sea of sand.

"You really cared for her, don't you?" Cloud asked. Kadaj tore his gaze from the sands and looked at Cloud, who leant himself on a wall.

"Yes," he answered. He looked at his own ungloved hands and continued, "I'm ready to give up my life for her and I should be dead. But I'm still here."

"Why did you do it?" Cloud asked.

"Do you need a reason to do it?" Kadaj replied with a question. Cloud became silent and looked at the ground as if he just realized something that he hadn't thought of.

"If you want to hear a reason," Kadaj continued, "Maybe it's because I promised her that I won't let her die."

"I let her die," Cloud mumbled, "I didn't do anything to save her."

Kadaj did not reply to his mumbles and he too felt the same remorse that crept into Cloud's heart. It was true that he did not do anything to stop Lana from sacrificing herself to defeat JENOVA until it was a step too late.

'Where am I?' Kadaj froze when he heard Lana's voice in his mind.

'Lana?' Kadaj's mind asked.

'Kadaj?' came the voice, 'Where are you?'

"Kadaj?" Cloud called when he realized that Kadaj had not been listening to what he said. "What's wrong?" he tapped Kadaj's shoulder.

"She's awake!" Kadaj exclaimed which surprised Cloud before he ran back into the house. The children in the playroom stared at the silver haired brother who ran across the room and jumped up the steps to the upper floor of the house before he disappeared into the room where the sister was sleeping in.

XXXXX

'Where am I?' Lana asked herself as her eyes focused on the bare grey ceiling.

'Lana?' she heard Kadaj's voice inside her head.

'Kadaj?' she called in her mind, 'Where are you?' But she received no reply from the voice in her mind. Instead, she felt his presence drawing closer to her. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked around the room for a second before the wooden door was thrown open.

"Lana!" Kadaj exclaimed as he enveloped her tightly in his arms.

"Kadaj?" she called innocently.

"I'm glad you are awake," he said.

"Kadaj," Lana began, "What happened?"

Kadaj released her from his embrace and smiled at her, "I don't know and I wouldn't care anymore."

Lana's eyes became wet and she said in her mind, 'Kadaj is a fool.'

Kadaj, who heard her voice in his mind, stared at her, 'I heard that.'

'But Kadaj is really foolish,' Lana turned away from him.

'But I managed to save you,' Kadaj replied in his mind.

'Kadaj could die doing it!' Lana continued.

'I'm willing to die for you; you know that, don't you?' Kadaj lightly kissed Lana.

'But,' Lana began, 'But-'

'No more,' Kadaj rested his forehead on hers, 'Everything's alright now.'

Lana closed her eyes and nodded, 'Thank you, Kadaj.'

"Tifa! The sister is awake!" both Kadaj and Lana heard Marlene's voice from the door. Lana smiled at the little girl and at Cloud, who stood behind her.

"FINALLY!" Loz exclaimed from the door of the house but they later heard a loud thud.

"It's great that you are awake," Yazoo said as he looked into the room. Lana beamed as both her elder brothers came to view.

"Yes, it's great to be awake," Lana smiled as she joined everyone who had gathered at the door.

XXXXX

"You shouldn't be out here at this time of the night," Kadaj said as he stepped out into the night. A silhouette figure turned at his voice to look at him but turned back to gaze up at the starlit sky.

"I want to stay here a little longer," Lana replied.

"You'll catch a cold," Kadaj said as he enveloped her in his arms from behind.

"I won't," Lana replied, "You're here." Kadaj smiled knowing that he meant something to his Lana.

"Yeah, I'll protect you," he said.

"I'm glad," Lana said as she turned to face him, "That you are here with me."

"I'll always be with you," Kadaj replied, "Never to leave you."

"Thank you," Lana circled her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "I won't leave you either," she whispered and felt his arms warmly secured around her once again.

"I'm sorry I decided what I decided that day," Lana continued.

"It's alright," Kadaj rubbed her cheek as a tear slipped down. "You had no choice," he continued, "I wasn't strong enough."

Kadaj felt her shook her head, "It was I who was not strong enough. I'm sorry."

"I told you not to say that word again, didn't I?" Kadaj reminded her.

"What word?" Lana asked.

"I hate that word, especially when it comes from you," he continued. Lana looked at him and saw regret in his Mako green eyes, " 'Sorry', I hate that word from you."

"Is that so?" Lana laid her head on his shoulder once again. "I didn't know that, sor-" she stopped herself, "I apologize for that."

Kadaj chuckled, "Two years ago, I told you not to say that word. Maybe you have forgotten but I know I said it to you."

"Maybe you did," Lana replied with a smile. Kadaj stroke her head and smiled as he watched the stars shone above them. Lana stood holding onto Kadaj closing her eyes and breathed in his warmth.

"Let's get in the house," Kadaj said after a moment of quiet embrace.

"I don't want to," Lana said with her eyes still closed.

"You are tired and you'll catch a cold," Kadaj said.

"No," Lana said playfully.

"Alright," Kadaj smirked as a plan was constructed in his mind, "Do you really want to stay out here?" He received a nod as a reply and his playful grin widened.

"Then, I'll just have to carry you back in!" Kadaj said as he kissed her on the lips and lifted the unsuspecting Lana into his arms.

"You cheat!" she said softly after he broke the kiss.

"And?" he asked playfully as they walked into the house.

"And…," Lana stopped when she found nothing to reply him and sighed in defeat.


	15. Road to Repentance

**The Only One in My Heart**

**Chapter 15**

Tifa knocked on Kadaj's room door but there was no reply. She tried to open the door and it swung open. An empty room greeted her on that bright morning.

"That's strange," she mumbled to herself, "Where could he be?"

She walked over to Lana's room. Tifa was surprised to see the door slightly ajar and she peeked into the room. There she saw Lana asleep facing the door. She gasped when she saw that Kadaj too was asleep behind her and she could see that Kadaj's arms were around Lana. Hundreds of possibilities of what happened last night crossed her mind.

"Why are you peeking?" a voice asked. Tifa muffled her gasp with her hands and looked at the owner of the voice. Yazoo walked over to the startled woman and peeked through the gap, smiling. "I can assure you," Yazoo said softly when he turned to look at Tifa, "That nothing had happened."

"They have always been like this," Yazoo began as they sat down on the sofa at the living room. "I don't know if they realized it at that time, but Loz and I could see that they really cared for each other," he continued, "Especially Kadaj, he very protective of her."

"But they're-" Tifa couldn't continued as her mind went wild with her guesses.

"Don't worry," Yazoo assured her, "Kadaj just misses her."

"I guess you are right," Tifa blushed in embarrassment for thinking otherwise.

"Alright, get off me you guys," both Yazoo and Tifa could hear Loz whining in a distance, where he played with the orphans.

XXXXX

Kadaj did not open his eyes even when he heard the sound of sheets softly ruffling beside him. He felt a certain light brown haired girl trying to lift his hand, which was placed around her waist and a comfortable weight being lifted off his other arm. A smile graced his lips as he tightened his hold and wrapped both his arm around her.

"Are you awake?" Lana asked softly but there was no answer. She tried to slip out of Kadaj's arm but she found that his arms around her became tighter with every try.

"Just a little longer," Lana heard Kadaj whisper into her ears before he nuzzled comfortably into her hair. Lana sighed and put her hands on Kadaj's.

"It's almost noon," she said.

"No, it's not," he replied, "Yazoo usually comes at 7 in the morning." Lana became speechless as she lay in his arms but a question soon popped into her mind.

'How did you know Yazoo was here?' she asked.

'I heard him just before you woke up,' he replied.

'Oh,' was all Lana could say for the moment, 'But we still have to get up.'

'I don't want to,' Kadaj whined which made Lana became speechless.

'I miss you,' Kadaj said in his mind after a long moment of silence.

'Kadaj?' Lana called into his mind, 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' he replied, 'I just miss you, that's all.'

'You told me before,' she said, 'Everything's alright now.'

'It's not that,' Kadaj said, 'It's just…'

'I understand,' Lana rubbed Kadaj's bare hand, which was resting on her stomach. 'I don't want to lose you too,' she said.

'I want to be with you, forever,' Kadaj said as he kissed the back of her neck, 'So, don't leave me.'

'I won't,' Lana answered him, 'Everything's alright now, isn't it?'

'Yeah,' Kadaj sighed as he remembered yesterday.

_"Marlene," Kadaj began as he got on one of his knees in front of the lively girl to look directly into her eyes, "I know there are a lot of things that I did were wrong. And if you and your friends want to punish me, please do so." _

_Everyone was shocked to hear the words flowed out of Kadaj smoothly. Lana stood behind Kadaj and looked at Marlene. Marlene looked at the silver haired man in front of her and then at the brown haired lady behind him. _

_"Whatever you did was wrong," Marlene began as she hung her head, "That's why you should be punished." Barret, Yuffie, Tifa and Cloud looked at the little girl who seemed to have suddenly grown up in the shabby room. _

_"But," she continued, "That sister over there saved us and she's your friend. And you protected her." Kadaj began to question what she was thinking in his mind._

_"What do you mean, Marlene?" Tifa asked, as she was as confused as everyone in the room._

_"That is to say," Marlene looked up at Kadaj, smiling, "You are forgiven." With that said, Kadaj was relieved but he was overcome by surprise when Marlene jumped onto him with her hands around his neck. Kadaj smiled as he patted the girl's back and whispered a word of gratitude to her. _

'But then,' Lana began, 'What are we going to do from now on?'

'Seriously, I don't know,' he replied.

'On this planet, there're a lot of things that we can do,' Kadaj began, 'We have set a goal for ourselves in the past. That is to become a member of SOLDIER. But SOLDIER is no more. We have to set a new goal for ourselves now.'

'I want to repent for all that I have done, Lana,' Kadaj said, 'But, how can I do it?'

'Marlene forgives you because you protected me,' Lana replied, 'Then, if you could protect everyone, you will be forgiven too, right?'

'I guess you are right,' he agreed, 'To fight is what we have been trained for and that is something we are capable of."

'We'll protect everyone,' Lana said, 'I'm not afraid of anything.'

'Yeah, I'll be by your side,' Kadaj tightened his hold on her hand, 'I'll protect you.'

Lana turned around and came to face Kadaj's chest. He pulled her closer and rested his hand on her hair.

'Thank you, Kadaj,' Lana smiled.

'It is promise, Lana, Kadaj replied, 'A promise that I will not let you die. And we'll always be together because we're a part of each other now.'

'No, I'm a part of you,' Lana corrected as she listened to Kadaj's steady heartbeat, 'You gave me your life. And I'll treasure it.'

'I'm glad,' he sighed, 'Now, let's go back to sleep.'

'But I don't want to,' it was Lana who whined this time.

'Then just stay where you are and let me sleep a little longer,' Kadaj yawned.

'Wake up,' Lana called and thought of biting his hand to wake him up.

'No,' he replied, 'And no, it won't work.' Lana did not think when she pulled herself up and kissed him. Kadaj's eyes sprang open and Lana smiled.

"Good morning," her smile widened.

"You cheat," Kadaj lightly kissed her lips.

"And?" Lana repeated their conversation from the night before. Kadaj sighed in defeat and ruffled her hair.

XXXXX

"We'll be off now," Kadaj said to Cloud, who nodded.

"Where will you be going?" Tifa asked.

"We'll go to a place where we're needed," Kadaj answered, "But I'm sure that we'll meet again someday."

"Cloud," Lana looked at the spiky blonde man, "This is for you."

Lana held up a pink ribbon to him. Cloud took the ribbon and looked at her curiously before he retuned his attention back to the delicate ribbon that felt warm in his hand.

"It's not from me," Lana smiled, "It's from Aerith." Cloud was too stunned to reply as he read the embroidered writings on the ribbon.

"Thank you for everything Tifa," Lana said, "Goodbye!"

"Bye-bye! Come play with us next time!" the echoes of the orphans came.

"Bye!" Tifa waved as four of her new found friends sped off onto the road. She watched the three motorcycles picked up speed as they rode towards the setting sun. Tifa left Cloud to his thoughts as she tended to her chores but she caught a glimpse of a smile in the sunlight.

Cloud looked up to the golden sky and sighed. A smile began to form at the corner of his lips as he clasped the ribbon to his heart.

"Forgiven But Not Forgotten," Cloud whispered the words embroidered on the ribbon.

THE END

Okay…I know the last chapter isn't as good as my other chapters. I couldn't write the ending which is why it took soooo long. Sorry!

I'm willing to accept flames for this chapter! Flame ahead!

I will re-write this chapter if I get some ideas from the flames received. Thanks for the support!


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